Star Metro - Mott's England future uncertain as ECB chief fails to offer support

The 50-year-old Mott, previously in charge of the all-conquering Australian women's side, has seen his position come under intense scrutiny after disappointing England title defences in both last year's 50-over World Cup and the more recent T20 World Cup.

Both Mott and white-ball captain Jos Buttler have faced searching questions about their leadership, with several British media reports saying both men could lose their respective posts.

ECB chief Richard Gould did little to stem the tide of speculation when speaking to BBC Radio on the opening day of the third Test between England and the West Indies at Edgbaston.

He did confirm, however, that it was "certainly not true" to say Mott had already been sacked, with Gould also telling the BBC's Test Match Special programme: "We are always assessing options. That's what happens in high performance sport.

"You're always assessing your options but you never want to be drawn into giving the dreaded vote of confidence or anything like that," added Gould, the son of former professional footballer and manager Bobby Gould.

"That's what competitive sport is, it always brings scrutiny and decisions. We always want to make sure we do the right thing by the sport, the team and the individuals.

"We'll always use whatever time we've got to make the best decisions possible; we won't be pressured into anything other than that."

England certainly have no need to make an immediate decision regarding their white-ball coach and captain as they are not in limited-overs action again until the first of eight matches -- three Twenty20 internationals and five one-day internationals -- at home to arch-rivals Australia in September.

F.T. Michaud--SMC