Graham Ford "would love" to work for England

Ford previously served as head coach of Sri Lanka (twice) and Surrey before a recent four-year stint with Ireland

Graham Ford "would love" to work for England after being linked to the vacant head coach position.

The 61-year-old South African previously enjoyed two spells as Sri Lanka’s head coach, either side of a stint with Surrey, before joining Ireland in September 2017.

Ireland won 41 of their 101 white-ball fixtures under his leadership while he also oversaw the country’s first foray into Test cricket, with red-ball defeats against Pakistan, Afghanistan and England.

He left his position as head coach in November 2021 following Ireland’s exit from the 2021 T20 World Cup and is currently working at the YMCA Cricket Club in Sandymount, Dublin on a three-year contract.

Prior to beginning his international coaching career, Ford spent five years as Kent’s director of cricket while Rob Key, the ECB’s new managing director of men’s cricket, was on their playing staff.

^{Graham Ford previously served as head coach of Ireland [Harry Trump/Getty Images]}

"If England felt that I was a suitable fit in any sort of role – gee, one would love to be involved with English cricket," Ford told the Daily Telegraph.

Addressing Key’s preference for separate red and white-ball coaches, he continued: "Certainly red-ball cricket’s my preferred format of the game. I absolutely love it so to be involved in Test cricket again would be something special for me.

"I've been very lucky over the years where I've had great opportunity to learn so much about the game from many wise cricketers, going back to my time with coaching South Africa, and prior to that in the domestic system in South Africa and then my years in county cricket.

"They've all been great learning opportunities for me. So I certainly feel the experience that I have helps me when it comes to those situations."

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