Rob Key takes over as head-honcho of England Men's unit

In the latest development, former England cricketer Rob Key has been named Managing Director of England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). The 42-year cricketer has been selected to fill in the big boots of Ashley Giles - another former English player - who stepped down from the role after the Ashes debacle Down Under last summer. 

Key, who is well known as a pundit on Sky Sports, will take the job with immediate effect, as confirmed by the press release issued by ECB. 

The release further stated, “Key will be responsible for the strategy behind the England Men’s cricket teams and the performance pathways leading into them. He will also take a key role as part of the High-Performance Review, which will shortly begin.”

Post Giles stepping down, Sir Andrew Strauss served as the Managing Director on an interim basis. During Strauss’ era, England’s Test team toured the West Indies, where they faced an embarrassing 1-2 loss against the host team. 

Coming back to Key, the former Kent legendary batter is a hugely respected figure in the country for his contribution to the county game and his constructive criticism. 

The right-handed batter donned the Three Lions jersey on 21 occasions; however, the Kent batter played over 500 domestic matches to notch 19419 First-Class runs and 8708 runs in the white-ball formats. 

Talking about the new role, Key said, “It is an absolute honour to take up this role. The chance to have an impact and make a difference is an opportunity given to very few, and I will give it everything I have to try to shape the next great era of English Men’s cricket.

“Although at this current moment, it has been a challenging time in English cricket. With two of our teams near or at the top of the world rankings and an undoubted amount of talent in our game, I hope to try and bring everyone along for the ride so we can all help take English Men’s cricket to new heights across all formats,” the newly appointed Managing Director concluded.