Adam Gilchrist backs Justin Langer as a "good fit" for England head coach role

The former Australia wicketkeeper would be excited to see his former teammate working with Ben Stokes but believes Langer may need time after being "hurt" by his Australia exit

Adam Gilchrist has backed Justin Langer as a strong candidate for the vacant England head coach position, labelling his former teammate a "good fit."

Despite winning the Ashes 4-0, lifting the T20 World Cup last November and guiding Australia to the top of the ICC’s Test rankings, Langer resigned from his position as Australia head coach earlier in February following considerable speculation around his future.

His departure came hot on the heels of Chris Silverwood’s departure from England’s coaching staff and Gilchrist believes the opportunity for Langer to work with Ben Stokes would be "awesome."

Speaking on The Barmy Army’s The Shackles Are Off podcast, the former Australia wicketkeeper said: "I don’t think he’s going to be short of opportunities, so he needs to work that out. I don’t this in a provocative sense, but I do look at the setup at the moment with England and think 'he would be a good fit'.

^{Gilchrist would like to see Langer work with Ben Stokes [Steve Bell/Getty Images]}

"It’d be awesome to see Justin Langer working with Ben Stokes. The work ethic from Stokes is on par with Justin Langer’s and that would be intriguing to see what could grow and develop and sprout from that.

"And Joe [Root] as captain I think would benefit from a figure like Justin alongside him."

Interim managing director, Andrew Strauss, and former England captain Nasser Hussain are among those to also like Langer as a potential candidate for the role.

"One thing [he] knows is the weaknesses of the England side as he’s just played against them. He will know where they need improving and can work on and see them very close up. Langer would push some questions in that dressing room. Which is I think what they need," Hussain said on Sky Sports earlier in February.

However, Gilchrist did admit the job may be available at the wrong time.

"It just might be a bit soon," he said. "He’s been hurt, you don’t need to be Einstein to work that out.

"He needs a bit of time to heal and dust himself off and work out whether he sees himself as a career coach or was coaching Australia the pinnacle and he now wants to go off and do a number of other things."