Flower oversaw a hugely successful period for England’s Test team in 2009-14, taking them to No. 1 in the ICC’s rankings and winning away series in both Australia and India. He has since become the outstanding coach on the franchise circuit: he has won back-to-back IPL titles with RCB, and is due to coach London Spirit in the Hundred later this month.

Gould said that he already had a shortlist of between six and ten names – “there’s always a shortlist in place for all key jobs at the ECB, including my own” – though refused to confirm or deny the identity of any individuals on it. However, he made clear that a desire to continue working in the IPL would not necessarily rule any potential candidates out.

“We need to be progressive in these issues,” Gould said. “We’ve got players trying to balance between county, franchise, international cricket. It’s a really busy calendar. We may well have to do the same with our coaching staff and supporting staff; we already do, to an extent. But I think that is something that we will have to have a look at.

“One of the difficulties is the IPL dates are not a fixed thing, and there maybe will be some compromises that need to be made along the way. But the important thing is that we’ve got the best individuals that offer the best fit and we get them into those positions. It is something that we would certainly consider.”

McCullum stepped down from his role at Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) when he took on the Test job, but England staff have previously held concurrent roles with T20 franchises. Tim Southee left the Ashes tour after one match to play in the ILT20, while several backroom staff – analysts, physios, and team manager Wayne Bentley – have worked in the IPL alongside England duties.

However, the IPL’s dates occasionally clash with England’s Test commitments. This year, Jacob Bethell and Jofra Archer both missed a training camp before the first New Zealand Test (Archer missed the Test itself, too) while in India; next year, England are due to play a one-off Test – most likely against Bangladesh in late May/early June which could overlap with the playoffs.

The ECB are unlikely to appoint a successor to Ben Stokes as Test captain until a new head coach is in place, though Gould hinted that there is “an obvious direction of travel” and suggested that captaining England across all three formats would be “too much for an individual”.

Gould has made a significant U-turn by sacking McCullum only three Tests after insisting that the ECB would not take “easy” option of a post-Ashes clear-out, but said that he had no choice but to respond after a 2-1 series defeat to New Zealand.

“The results have not gone the way that we wanted them to go. It’s always been a results-based business,” he said. “Results mean that we need to make a change. At this particular time, we’ve got 10 Test matches until the Ashes start in 2027, and so whilst we have a significant amount of time to prepare again for that with a new coach coming in, we want to use as much time as we have available.”