Moores set to return as England coach

The ECB will announce a new England head coach on Saturday with Peter Moores, who was sacked from the role five years ago, set for a second chance at the job with Paul Farbrace, the recently appointed Sri Lanka coach, tipped to come on board as Moores' assistant.

Interviews of the shortlisted candidates for the top job - Giles, Peter Moores, Mark Robinson, Mick Newell and Trevor Bayliss - have taken place in the last few days at Lord's or, in Bayliss' case, via Skype from the Middle East. Farbrace was also interviewed although it is understood he did not want to be considered for the head coach's position.

Since England returned from the World T20, where they were dumped out before the semi-finals and finished with a defeat against Netherlands, the mood had shifted from Giles being the man expected to slot into Andy Flower's shoes - a step up from his position as limited-overs coach - to Moores, who previously coached England from 2007 to early 2009, being the frontrunner to shape England's new era.

In the wake of the 5-0 Ashes whitewash, Giles presided over a 4-1 loss in the following one-day series and 3-0 in the T20s. Although there was some silverware in the Caribbean, with the one-day series, the subsequent failings in the World T20 appear to have swung Giles' fate.

Moores' previous spell came from 2007, when he replaced Duncan Fletcher following a previous Ashes whitewash and poor World Cup campaign, to early 2009 when he lost his job alongside the sacking of Kevin Pietersen as captain after it emerged the pair could not work together. Other senior England players also had concerns about Moores, but in the intervening five years he has had the chance to evolve his coaching methods.

Flower, who now has a new role with the ECB based at Loughborough, is also an admirer of Moores who he worked under as assistant coach before promotion following Moores' sacking.

Although the manner in which Moores' stint ended is what it is largely remembered for, he did put in place a lot of personnel who went onto play significant roles in England's subsequent successes from 2009 to 2013. He oversaw James Anderson's return to the Test team, recalled Graeme Swann, gave Matt Prior his Test debut and helped mould the early days of Stuart Broad's career and his fruitful partnership with Anderson.

Shortly after losing his England role, Moores became the head coach with Lancashire. He guided the county to their first Championship title in 77 years in 2011 and although they were relegated the following season they were promoted straight back in 2013.

Farbrace, meanwhile, the former Yorkshire 2nd XI coach, has made a late run for the line to work alongside Moores. He was only appointed to Sri Lanka in December and led them to the World T20 title earlier this month when they beat India in the final. Farbrace is currently in the UK for the Easter weekend.

Farbrace had signed a two-year contract with SLC beginning on January 1 this year, and a move to England would constitute a significant crisis for Sri Lanka, less than a month before their tour of England is set to begin.

Financial limitations had severely hindered SLC's hunt for a new national coach, after Graham Ford left the position and began work with Surrey, in January. On Friday, SLC did not appear to have been informed of Farbrace's potential move, with CEO Ashley de Silva dismissing reports of his forthcoming appointment in England as "pure speculation and rumour". Farbrace had not been part of Sri Lanka's Colombo celebrations after their World T20 triumph, having left the country shortly after the team landed.

The speed of the final decision may raise eyebrows - the announcement had not been expected until later next week - but there is not a huge amount of time for the ECB to play with. England's first international of the season is on May 9 against Scotland, in Aberdeen, before the visit of Sri Lanka later in May.

Lancashire will be in need of a new coach and while talk has already started that it may become a home for Giles the club could also look to recruit from within with Gary Yates, the current assistant coach, and club captain Glen Chapple among the options.