Chris Waters: Yorkshire’s Gillespie is the coach to lead England after Ashes woe

Sack the coach, sack the captain, sack the batsmen, sack the bowlers, sack every Tom, Dick and Harry you can possibly think of.

And when it comes to good old shellackings, they do not come much bigger than the 5-0 whitewash suffered by England in the Ashes.

Why, with defeats by 381 runs, 218 runs, 150 runs, eight wickets and 281 runs, England were not so much shellacked as publicly stoned.

So what now? Where does English cricket go from here?

Is it time to wield the axe and make wholesale changes? Or would some minor tinkering have the necessary effect?

In the aftermath of last week’s final Test, I said that England should dispense with team director Andy Flower, and I believe that this should be the only major change they make going forward – as opposed to any temptation to take a scalpel to the playing staff.

Flower has been the most successful coach in England’s history, briefly leading them to No 1 in the world Test rankings and to the Twenty20 World Cup, but the manner of England’s debacles Down Under, and the fact that he seems unable to lift the players or to bring the next batch through, convinces me he is no longer the man for the job.

Of course, Flower has subsequently outlined his intention to stay, while the England and Wales Cricket Board have backed him to lead England into the 2015 Ashes, so the status quo seems set to remain.

But Flower’s somewhat garbled commitment to the role, along with his view that he still finds it “fascinating”, as though it is some sort of scientific experiment, worries me at a time when England need less of the forensic micro-management and more good, honest man-management, such as that provided by his Australian counterpart Darren Lehmann.

So, if I had a blank sheet of paper to improve the fortunes of Team England (which, funnily enough, I do courtesy of this venerable organ), the first thing I would do is appoint Jason Gillespie as England coach.

No one at Yorkshire would thank me for saying that because, in his first two seasons in charge, Gillespie has led Yorkshire to County Championship promotion, to a runners-up finish in the Championship and to the Twenty20 Cup final and Twenty20 Champions League.

Although Yorkshire have not won anything for 12 years, an unenviable record, they could not have come closer in the past two seasons and Gillespie’s methods have been a breath of fresh air, and I do not see a better up-and-coming coach on the horizon.

As with Lehmann, fun and enjoyment are at the core of Gillespie’s philosophy, along with the nous accumulated from years spent as a member of arguably the greatest Test team in history, and how England’s players could benefit from a little more fun to release them from the chains of Flower’s regime.

So I would change the coach but not, at this stage, the captain of the side.

Alastair Cook is a great batsman but a less-than-great leader, yet with no realistic alternative apart from Kevin Pietersen, who would be a risky re-appointment and not a long-term one, I would persevere with Cook – at least until Joe Root is ripe for the role.

In my view, Cook and Flower are too similar in that their first instinct is to defend rather than attack, as we saw when New Zealand were set a preposterous 468 to win in last year’s Headingley Test, despite the threat of bad weather that could have scuppered England’s victory bid.

But Cook has the potential to improve with a more positive coach alongside him, and I thought he acquitted himself with tremendous dignity Down Under.

My England team going forward would start with the top-six I advocated after Jonathan Trott’s departure from the Ashes.

That is Cook and Yorkshireman Root to open, followed by Pietersen at No 3, Jonny Bairstow at No 4, Ian Bell at No 5 and Gary Ballance at No 6.

Some might question the decision to keep faith with Bairstow, but as one who has watched the entirety of his county career, I am convinced that he has the talent to thrive and that England have not yet used him properly.

I would give him the two Tests against Sri Lanka as a batsman/wicketkeeper and take it from there, with the option of re-tweaking the order if necessary and recalling Matt Prior if things do not work.

Bairstow’s inclusion in the top-four enables me to play Ben Stokes at No 7, which I think is a better position for him at this stage than No 6.

Stokes was the biggest positive to emerge from the Ashes but I need to see more to be convinced that he is not one place too high in the batting order.

Stokes’s emergence as a genuine all-rounder facilitates the selection of four bowlers to complement his pace, and I would go with Stuart Broad at No 8, Jimmy Anderson at No 9, Graham Onions at No 10 and spinner Monty Panesar at No 11.

Anderson still has much to offer, Onions should never have been left at home in the first place, while I do not see a better spin bowling alternative at present to Panesar.

However, that situation could quickly change and there has never been a better time for the likes of Yorkshire’s Adil Rashid and Azeem Rafiq to come to the fore.

Frankly, I would already pick Rashid over Scott Borthwick, while it must be hoped that Rafiq puts behind him a disappointing year when he lost form and confidence.

Of course, it is all a matter of opinion and conjecture.

For there is nothing quite like a good old shellacking for the England cricket team to spark heated debate and make selectors of us all...

and another thing...

ON the subject of Jason Gillespie, hats off to the Yorkshire coach for his efforts in recent weeks on the Sky television programme Ashes Verdict.

“Dizzy” was part of a three-man panel, along with former England batsman Marcus Trescothick and former England pace bowler Bob Willis, who kept us royally entertained with their insight into the X-rated goings-on Down Under.

Under the supervision of host Charles Colvile, Gillespie et al provided an hourly fix of intelligent discussion after each day’s play, interlaced with plenty of humour.

In so doing, Gillespie proved himself a fine ambassador for the Yorkshire club, whose profile he raised in a positive way.

What impressed me most about Gillespie’s performance – apart from the insight he gave – was that he did not try to overly impose himself on the discussions.

He waited to be asked a question and did not talk over fellow guests, even when he seemed to be itching at times to make an interjection.

There is not enough of that type of punditry, the type that does not revel in the sound of its own voice.

Trescothick and Willis were equally impressive, with the latter never ceasing to leave me doubled-up with laughter.