England are poised to turn to an Australian as their new national selector, with Durham director of cricket Marcus North in line to land the job this week.
North appears to have beaten off competition from former England fast bowlers Steven Finn and Darren Gough to land the job after final interviews. He is expected to accept and his appointment is likely to be confirmed in the coming days.
North would effectively replace Luke Wright, who stepped down in the wake of last winter’s Ashes for family reasons, citing the strain of so much travel. Wright’s job title was England selector, while North would fill the apparently more senior position of national selector, which has not existed for five years since Ed Smith was made redundant. Smith has gone full circle and will join the ECB board later this year.
While England have had plenty of foreign coaches, including incumbent Brendon McCullum, West Australian North would be the first man not from these shores to be charged with selecting the national team.
North played 21 Tests for Australia, including two Ashes series, between February 2009 and December 2010, but his appointment is a nod to the county game. He played for five counties and has been in charge of cricket at Durham for the past eight years. Since the start of 2025, he has been in charge of the men’s and women’s programmes at the county and he is well regarded in the game.
Under his watch, Durham have recovered from the devastation of their enforced relegation for financial reasons in 2016 and looked to be re-establishing themselves in the top flight until a surprise relegation last September. They have started the new Division Two season well and have steadily supplied England with players in recent years, including four members of last winter’s Ashes party. Top-order batsmen Emilio Gay and Ben McKinney are among those vying for a Test cap this summer.
Finn, a former team-mate of McCullum at Middlesex, was a prime candidate, but North’s background in administration and work in the county game appear to have secured him the role. Finn, like director of cricket Rob Key, would have been coming into the job from a career in broadcasting.
North has lived in the North East for years, having met his wife while playing for Gateshead Fell Cricket Club in 2000. After retiring, he was director of cricket at South Northumberland before getting the job at Durham, where he succeeded Geoff Cook in late 2018. Alongside his role with Durham, he worked as Northern Superchargers’ – now called Sunrisers Leeds – director of cricket in the early years of the Hundred.
North has worked with Test captain Ben Stokes at Durham and white-ball captain Harry Brook at the Superchargers, where he also appointed Andrew Flintoff as head coach. Flintoff is now in charge of England Lions, the second-string team, and will be working closely with North.
North is expected to be in position in time to help select England’s first squads of the summer next week. These include the Test squad to face New Zealand from June 4, and a Lions group to take on South Africa A from May 22.