Ashley Giles, English cricketer and coach
Ashley Fraser Giles (born 19 March 1973) is a former English first-class cricketer, who played 54 Test matches and 62 One Day Internationals for England before being forced to retire due to a recurring hip injury. Giles played the entirety of his 14-year first-class career at Warwickshire County Cricket Club.Giles started his career as a fast bowler before an early injury forced him to become a slow left-arm spinner. He made his first-class debut for Warwickshire in 1993, but it was 1996 when he gained a regular place in the side, winning the NBC Denis Compton Award for being 'The Most Promising Young Player' at the club. Giles was awarded his One Day International debut against Australia in May 1997, and 36 wickets in the 1998 season led to his first Test match against South Africa, although it would be a further two years before he would play another Test for England.
He did not have the most fluent bowling action and was unable to turn the ball a huge amount, although at 6 feet 4 inches (193 cm), he was able to use his height to extract plenty of bounce. As a right-handed batsman, Giles scored three first-class centuries, but his highest international score was only 59, an innings that helped England win The Ashes in 2005. Between November 2000 and the emergence of Monty Panesar in 2006 (during his first prolonged injury lay-off), Giles was England's first-choice spin bowler, although he was constantly having to justify his selection. This came to a head in 2004 when Giles considered retirement before a match-winning 9-wicket haul against the West Indies gave him the confidence to perform at the highest level.
He became the Managing Director Men’s Cricket for England in December 2018.It was announced on 2 February 2022 that he was leaving his role as Managing Director of Cricket following a poor Ashes cricket performance over the winter of 2021.
During his time in office he was associated with the controversial rotation of players and the merging of the chairman of selectors and the coach