London, May 20 (IANS) Former England fast bowler Darren Gough has said head coach Brendon McCullum was ‘very lucky’ to retain his job as the head coach after the 4-1 debacle in the Ashes, while admitting he was ‘disheartened’ on missing out on the role of national selector.

Gough, who claimed 467 international wickets and previously served as Yorkshire’s managing director of cricket, missed out on becoming England’s new national selector, with the role going to former Australia batter Marcus North.

North, who played 21 Tests for Australia, was appointed to the role by Rob Key, managing director of men’s cricket at the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), ahead of other candidates, including Gough and Steven Finn, as the replacement for Luke Wright.

“I think Baz McCullum is realistically very lucky to carry on as England’s head coach. If you’re not winning games, your job is going to come under scrutiny. It’s a four‑year cycle, so if you go to Australia on the fourth year of it and you win, or you get really close, you can say there’s been a big change, and let’s give it another couple of years.

“It didn’t happen, but I wish them the best of luck. I like the way they play, but it needs to be toned down a bit. We need a bit of steel, and I’d like to think we’ll see that this summer,” Gough told The Overlap’s Stick to Cricket show.

Asked if McCullum, the former New Zealand skipper, would face increased scrutiny this season, Gough replied in the affirmative. “Absolutely. They’re under pressure, and they should be, I don’t think there’s any doubt about that.”

Quizzed on sadness over losing out to North in the race to be England’s chief selector, Gough stated, “I was disheartened. I’ll be honest, it did hurt me. I could have challenged them in the right areas. I’m mature now, I’m not like I was 10 years ago, a hothead. I’ve mellowed a lot, and I’ve managed people.

“My honest opinion was, if they went down the route of someone who’d played for England, who has done all the roles in the game, I might just get this. This is a hard role because there are a lot of repair jobs to be done.

“They’re saying they are trying to bring England cricket and county cricket closer together – I don’t think they are because we’ve got a Kiwi coach and we’ve now got an Australian selector. I don’t think that’s brought the game closer to the county game at all. I do think there’s a big, big repair job there.”

“He’s Australian – that’s not a safer option, is it? Key didn’t think I’d enjoy the role, which I didn’t agree with either, because I wouldn’t have gone for that role. I love the sport, and I’m into data and writing. I write a lot and watch a lot of cricket. I think it’s because he’s the director of cricket at Durham. I would say as director of cricket at Durham, he doesn’t watch as much cricket as he probably should.”

–IANS

nr/bsk/