POLL: Who should replace Jason Gillespie as head coach at Yorkshire CCC?

Director of cricket Martyn Moxon will lead the search for a successor who can add to the silverware at Headingley since the Australian’s appointment in 2011.

Here we look at five candidates for the biggest job in county cricket:

1. Paul Farbrace

The early signs point towards the England assistant coach as the front-runner to succeed Gillespie as coach of the county champions.

Amongst Gillespie’s many sound decisions in the post was to appoint Farbrace as Second XI coach in 2011, a role which saw him work with Alex Lees, Yorkshire’s one-day captain, Jack Leaning and Adil Rashid for extended periods.

He oversaw the transition into the Trevor Bayliss regime with consummate ease as interim coach, presiding over the New Zealand one-day series which many continue to hail as the moment England’s white-ball fortunes turned.

Despite being perhaps the outstanding candidate, Farbrace is reportedly unwilling to relocate back to the North and rebutted an approach from Surrey over the winter. Also, his only other head coach role in county cricket was unfortunately coloured by relegation – suffered by his Kent side in 2010.

That said, he is an excellent communicator known for a relaxed, open approach to coaching and would be well-equipped to inherit the expectation that comes with the Yorkshire job.

2. Anthony McGrath

McGrath was as much a part of Headingley as the rugby stand for 20 years as a player and later a coach.

With two spells as Yorkshire captain under his belt, he knows all about the winning mentality embedded into the club.

The Bradford lad has successfully exported this, alongside Chris Silverwood, to Essex as assistant coach of a team that has enjoyed success in all formats this season.

His previous role as a player-mentor at Yorkshire means that he would have ongoing relationships with members of the squad that will be trusting and will often go beyond what happens out in the middle.

McGrath only moved to Essex in February so it remains to be seen whether a return to Yorkshire would be preferable at this stage of his career.

3. Richard Dawson

A unruly mop of blond hair and spectacles are not the only likenesses that Doncaster’s Dawson shares with Jurgen Klopp; he is one of the best young coaches on the county circuit.

Having played for the county for five years as a spinner, Dawson took over from Farbrace as Yorkshire’s Second XI coach in 2014 but it has been with Gloucestershire that his coaching ability has come to the fore.

He led an unfancied team to silverware in the One-Day Cup at Lord’s last year and has overseen a great improvement in quality of the Twenty20 cricket played down at Bristol. This qualifies him well to harness the upturn in Yorkshire’s fortunes in the shortest forms of the game and the ECB have used him as one of their leading spin coaches.

His contacts at Yorkshire, having worked closely with both Martyn Moxon and Ian Dews, will do him absolutely no harm if he is keen on the vacancy.

4. Chris Silverwood

Silverwood served Yorkshire with distinction for 13 years as a seamer who was ideally suited to Headingley conditions but fell just short of international class.

The 41 year-old is a highly-rated coach these days and is on the brink of leading Essex to the Division Two title and promotion. He has been able to successfully blend the Chelmsford outfit’s experienced core with exciting youngsters like Daniel Lawrence and Jamie Porter.

Since the Pontefract-born coach joined the Essex set-up in 2010, Silverwood has also worked with the England Lions and Under-19 sides and clearly has a pedigree at breeding young talent- a key part of the remit of a prospective coach given the strength of Yorkshire’s academy.

If he gets the job, there could be an unlikely repeat of committed vegan Gillespie’s clash with Wensleydale Creamery; between teetotaller Silverwood and Black Sheep!

5. Richard Pyrah

After hanging up his boots at the end of last summer, Dewsbury man Pyrah has shown some zeal in pursuing a coaching career. He took charge of the Yorkshire Diamonds in the inaugural Women’s Super League and although the team finished second bottom, this is a sign of the faith the club hold in the man who made his name as a player for the White Rose in one-day cricket.

Pyrah will certainly have the blessing of Gillespie, having spent time observing the Adelaide Strikers in last winter’s Big Bash, where he also worked with Aaron Finch’s Melbourne Renegades.

Yorkshire’s outgoing coach has been on record to endorse Pyrah’s credentials: “I think Rich could be a coach down the line, yes. Moving into coaching is something he’s thinking of doing, so it will be good for him to have these experiences to look back on”.

It may be, though, that this vacancy has come too early for the 33-year-old and there are certainly candidates with more experience.