England's selection revamp has hit a setback after Ashley Giles resisted encouragement to apply for the role of national selector.
Giles wants to concentrate on his role at Warwickshire as sporting director. In his first season back at Edgbaston, following a spell at Lancashire, he took Warwickshire to Finals Day in the T20 Blast - in their guise as Birmingham Bears - but saw an ageing side relegated to Division Two in the Specsavers Championship.
The post of national selector became vacant earlier this month when James Whitaker stood down after four years in the senior role - and 10 in all as a selector - in the wake of England's 4-0 Ashes defeat in Australia.
The approach to Giles, first revealed in The Guardian, illustrated the high regard in which he is held within the ECB. He spent six years as a selector during his first spell at Warwickshire when he combined both jobs and also spent 18 months as England's limited-overs coach.
The new-look system includes an extended coaching network, with old pros such as Geoff Arnold, John Emburey and Mike Hendrick amongst those involved, and a greater input for coaches at the Loughborough national academy.
Two former selectors, Mick Newell and Angus Fraser, have also been invited to reapply although, if successful, they would be expected to step down from their current roles as directors of cricket at Nottinghamshire and Middlesex respectively.
Andrew Strauss, the managing director of England cricket, suggests the new system will allow England to have a greater scrutiny of the county game. With around a dozen heading to IPL, it is to be hoped they have somebody on TV watch as well.