Andrew Strauss sets out five-year plan for England men to dominate "at all formats"

Sir Dave Brailsford is among those sounded out by Strauss to play his part in a high-performance review

Sir Dave Brailsford is included among a host of experts enlisted by Andrew Strauss to make England "the best in the world at all formats of the men's game within the next five years".

Strauss, chair of the ECB's performance cricket committee, has long called for English cricket to be "bold" in its assessments as he seeks for proposals to be voted on in September, giving the game time to implement any changes ahead of the start of the 2023 season.

"At the moment, we aren't top in any format," he wrote. "So, we want to set an ambitious and clear goal - to become the best in the world at all formats of the men's game within the next five years."

He added: "I read a lot of speculation about the domestic competition structure. Of course, this is an important part of the picture, but it's not the only part. The review is designed to look at the high-performance system in its entirely, including the England men's pathway and our high-performance set-up.

"And let's be clear – we have no pre-built solution. At this stage the project is only just starting. There are no hidden agendas. I wouldn't be bothering to carry out a review if I was already sitting here with specific proposals for change."

As well as Brailsford, who headed British Cycling during a golden era for the sport between the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games, others from outside of cricket have also been approached.

Dan Ashworth, who last October joined Warwickshire's committee, is soon to become Newcastle United's sporting director and is the FA's former director of elite development. Kate Baker, the director of performance at UK Sport, has been named, as well as Manchester City performance director Simon Timson and Aston Martin's ex-chair, Penny Hughes.

From within cricketing circles, Rob Key and Mo Bobat – both ECB employees – are part of the group, while Marcus North – Durham's director of cricket and a candidate at one stage for the role eventually taken by Key – is also included. Daryl Mitchell, the former Worcestershire batter and ex-PCA chair, is now the PCA's operations director and will also provide his insight.

^{Sir Dave Brailsford is among those approached by Strauss to offer input (Chris Graythen/Getty Images)}

Strauss said: "I make no apology for wanting to be bold. This includes looking outwards to see what we can learn from other sports and having an inquisitive nature about what's worked well elsewhere. How do other sports achieve world class performance? What can we learn from them?

"Rather than relying on opinions and anecdotes, let's be as objective as we can, and analyse what's working and what's not in our current set up. Let's speak to people in all the different elements of high-performance sport, inside and outside English cricket.

"There's always lots of nostalgia about 'when things used to be better' in English cricket. But two things are impossible to escape. We've never had a set of English men's teams which are the best in the world across all formats at the same time, so whatever we've done in the past hasn't got us to where we want to go now. And the game is evolving very quickly, with the growth of domestic white-ball competitions around the world and a global ICC event every year that international teams will aim to peak for.

"We want to be the best at both red-ball and white-ball, which means making sure players, the counties, our own international men’s pathway and those in charge of the England men's team environment are all aligned around this ambition."