James Taylor among new England scouts appointed by Ed Smith

(Photo: Getty Images)

By Adam Ellis

Ed Smith has appointed six scouts to the ECB talent identification set-up that includes names England fans are well accustomed to.

James Taylor, Marcus Trescothick, Chris Read, Steve Rhodes, Richard Dawson and Glen Chapple all get the job, which follows a shake-up orchestrated by England director of cricket Andrew Strauss earlier this year to the ECB paradigm for talent spotting.

Strauss explained: “We are looking for better information on players, better player ID and a fully structured scouting network to select England teams as well as our pathway teams.

“We have appointed six new scouts who will perform that role over the summer in Marcus Trescothick, James Taylor, Chris Read, Steve Rhodes, Richard Dawson and Glen Chapple.

“They are guys in and around the county game, with real credibility. They will be scouting on people that aren’t in their team, with a real focus on England’s needs both at home and away from home, and assessing players relative to that.”

Former Notts duo Taylor and Read have both called time on their playing careers recently through differing circumstances; Taylor with an undiagnosed heart condition which almost claimed his life ended up claiming a burgeoning international career and Read who brought the curtain down after 21 years at the top level.

Somerset opener Marcus Trescothick can draw on his international experience and will have some time to watch on from the stands after breaking his metatarsal while scoring a century earlier this month.