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David Saker is to work as England\u2019s fast bowling coach throughout the red-ball summer, reprising the role he took during the successful Ashes campaigns of 2010-11 and 2013. The Australian, who is with the white-ball squad in Bangladesh, has agreed a short-term deal after being approached by Ben Stokes during last year\u2019s T20 World Cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ll do much Test cricket, but I\u2019m doing the Ashes,\u201d he said. \u201cBen said: \u2018I\u2019d like to get you involved in the Ashes.\u2019 Rob Key had already floated it a little bit, but being so busy I wasn\u2019t sure if I really wanted to do it. Once Stokesy pushed it, it made it an easy decision. I said yes straight away because of the magnitude of the occasion. I\u2019ve been involved in Ashes with both parties and the cricket is as exciting as it gets. It\u2019s the biggest Test event.\u201d<\/p>\n The 56-year-old was England\u2019s fast bowling coach between 2010 and 2015, during which time they won the Ashes in Australia, successfully defended them at home and won a series in India for the first and only time since 1984-85. He then fulfilled a similar role for Australia from 2016 to 2019.<\/p>\n \u201cWorking with England the first time was so much fun,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m really looking forward to the opportunity to do the Ashes with this group because they are the best team in the world to watch at the moment.<\/p>\n \u201cTo win Ashes and big series you need a good battery of fast bowlers and that is definitely the case about England. You can say the same about the Australians, but playing on your home patch is always an advantage for a bowling group. It\u2019s exciting if we can have Jofra [Archer] and [Mark] Wood available. Whether you play them together is another thing, but you need that pace against the Australians. The thing those sorts of bowlers can do, they can bowl a spell that can crack a game open.\u201d<\/p>\n Saker will continue to work with the white-ball team who, after the conclusion of their T20 series in Bangladesh on Tuesday, where they trail 2-0 with a game to play, do not play again until September, with an ODI World Cup starting the following month. He is also contracted to coach Melbourne Renegades in Australia\u2019s Big Bash League, which starts in mid-December.<\/p>\n The England role means he will link up again with Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad, who were key players when Saker last worked with the team. \u201cBaz [Brendon McCullum] will pick a team that he thinks will win and he\u2019ll explain what he wants from the players and then it\u2019s my job to make sure they can deliver that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n