LONDON, July 9: South Africa’s former Test cricketer Jonty Rhodes is one of the favourites to become England’s fielding coach as the new management team continues to make its back room staff extensive.

It is hoped the place will be filled by the time the one-day squad assemble again for the seven-match rubber against India in August.

England spilled three chances during the deciding one-dayer against the West Indies at Trent Bridge on Sunday – two in the outfield by Alastair Cook and Ian Bell, plus one by wicket-keeper Matt Prior – while the ground fielding was caught out by some belligerent West Indies running. The boundary sweepers often struggled to collect the ball cleanly while those inside the circle hardly managed any direct hits.

“As with the rest of the support team we want the right person to do that (fielding) job,” said England coach Peter Moores. “When we’ve got the right bloke we can look to bring him in and see how he goes. We have seen that in other specialist positions for coaches.

“We are talking about people who could make a genuine difference to international performances – and they don’t always grow on trees. If we get a fielding coach we want him to influence fielding in England not just at England level.”

Rhodes has previously held a similar position with South Africa and Pakistan. His former team-mate Allan Donald is currently England’s bowling coach until the end of the Twenty20 World Championship. –Agencies