England adds 3 coaches to help prepare for Windies series

Glen Chapple, Richard Dawson and Matthew Walker, who are head coaches at Lancashire, Gloucestershire and Kent respectively, will join the team in Southampton.

A general view outside Emirates Old Trafford after buses containing West Indies staff and players arrived ahead of their Test Series against England, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

England has seconded three coaches from county cricket to help a 30-strong Test squad prepare for next month’s three-match series against the West Indies.

Glen Chapple, Richard Dawson and Matthew Walker, who are head coaches at Lancashire, Gloucestershire and Kent respectively, will join what England is describing as a “behind-closed-doors training group” at Southampton’s Ageas Bowl from Tuesday.

The players and coaches will live, prepare and train on-site in a bio-secure environment at the ground and its adjoining hotel until the first Test on July 8, with regular COVID-19 checks taking place amid the coronavirus pandemic.

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There will be a three-day practice match starting July 1, after which the squad for the first Test will be announced. The second and third Tests will be staged at Manchester’s Old Trafford, where the West Indies touring party is based.

Included in the enlarged training was Moeen Ali, who hasn’t played Test cricket since being dropped for the second Ashes test in August last year, and eight uncapped players. Three of them have appeared in limited-overs internationals - Saqib Mahmood, Lewis Gregory and Matt Parkinson.

England said assistant coach Paul Collingwood will take charge of the one-day team later this summer, when it is hoped Ireland will tour in a three-match series. England was also scheduled to play Pakistan and Australia in ODIs but no fixtures have been confirmed.

Chapple and Dawson have recently helped out as coaches for England’s second-string Lions squad.

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"It’s nice for them and the players to build on effective coaching relationships and it’s also a real positive for our domestic game that we can expose a greater number of our coaches to international cricket,” said ECB performance director Mo Bobat, who added the support from England’s county teams has been “excellent” since a 55-man group was asked to gather for training last month.

The county season will not start before Aug. 1 because of coronavirus restrictions,