Gary Kirsten rules out England coaching job

Indian national coach Duncan Fletcher with Gary Kirsten (R)

He was a part of the victorious Indian side which won the 2011 World Cup, after which he called it quits to spend time with his family. And it looks like Gary Kirsten is in no mood to change that.

Following the sacking of Andy Flower by the ECB, rumours have been doing the rounds that Gary Kirsten was approached to take up the coaching role of England cricket team, who have been left reeling after the recent Ashes debacle. Kirsten, who stepped down as South Africa’s coach last July, said that he was still not ready to take an overseas appointment.

Kirsten, who led the Proteas to the top spot in the world Test rankings, specified the time being spent away from his family as the reason behind his doubts about returning to international cricket.

“I suppose it is flattering that people are thinking about me,” Kirsten said. “As far as I am concerned, my sentiments have not changed.”

He had been recently appointed as the head coach of the IPL team Delhi Daredevils, a job which involves spending less time in comparison to the long schedules in international cricket.

The new job is said to pay him US$500,000 (£306,000), and ECB would have to double the amount for Kirsten to even consider the offer to coach the England team.

Other contenders for the job are Ashley Giles (England’s one-day coach), Mick Newell (Nottinghamshire coach) and former Sri Lankan coach Tom Moody.