Marcus North set to be named as England Men’s selector

Ravi Singh

2 hours ago

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England are set to appoint former Australian Test cricketer Marcus North as their men’s national selector, with Durham’s director of cricket understood to have come out on top after final interviews for the role took place this week.

As first reported in the Telegraph, North will leave his role with Durham, which he has held since 2018, having moved to the north-east following a distinguished playing career. The 46-year old represented Australia 24 times, including seven Ashes Tests across the 2009 and 2010-11 series. He will become the first non-Englishman charged with selecting England teams, replacing Luke Wright who stepped down for personal reasons after this winter’s 4-1 Ashes defeat.

North is understood to have beaten former England fast bowlers Steven Finn and Darren Gough to the job. His background in administration holds him in good stead, having not only been in charge of Durham’s men but also the club’s women’s program since the start of 2025.

He is close with Test captain Ben Stokes – who is set to make his first appearance for Durham in two years against Worcestershire this week – and also worked with Stokes during three years as director of cricket at Northern Superchargers. That spell with the Hundred franchise – now Sunrisers Leeds – included his appointments of Harry Brook as captain and Andrew Flintoff as head coach. Brook has since taken over from Jos Buttler as England’s white-ball captain, while Flintoff is currently England Lions head coach.

As national selector, North is expected to have more responsibility than Wright, akin to that bestowed upon Ed Smith before he was let go by the ECB in 2021. Crucially, North’s experience of the English domestic system will make good on managing director Rob Key’s promise to engage better with county cricket following England’s humbling in Australia. As well as playing for Durham, North had stints with Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Lancashire and Hampshire, and finished his professional career with Derbyshire in 2014.

As an administrator, he is credited with helping rebuild Durham following their enforced relegation in 2016 for financial reasons. The county returned to Division One in 2022 but find themselves back in Division Two after finishing ninth in the top-flight on the last day of the 2025 season. Throughout North’s tenure, he has maintained the region’s reputation for producing England cricketers, with top-order batters Ben McKinney and Emilio Gay two members of the current squad who are strongly fancied for a maiden Test cap this summer.

Their cases may well be strengthened with North as selector. With the finer points due to be ironed out over the coming days, North should be in situ for the selection meeting to determine the squad for the upcoming Test series with New Zealand. That meeting will feature Key, Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum, with Flintoff, performance director Ed Barney and player identification lead David Court also on hand for their inputs. The squad is due to be announced in the week commencing May 18, with a training week in Loughborough inked in for May 25.

North’s appointment as national selector arguably puts him more firmly in the frame for future roles within the ECB set-up. He was shortlisted for the managing director job in 2022, which eventually went to Key. And while Key has been backed by the ECB following a review into the winter, it is uncertain whether he will continue beyond next summer’s home Ashes.

As well having a say on final XIs, North’s responsibilities also include Lions selection, involvement in the governing body’s data and analytics departments, the County Insight Group and scouting.

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