LONDON: Lancashire coach Peter Moores has emerged as a leading contender to become the new England cricket coach, although Nottinghamshire's Mick Newell has also made clear his interest.

The duo are on a four-man shortlist along with current England limited-overs coach Ashley Giles and Trevor Bayliss, as the race to succeed Andy Flower hots up.

Moores previously served as England coach from May 2007 until January 2009, when the breakdown of his relationship with then captain Kevin Pietersen forced the England and Wales Cricket Board to act.

He is back in the frame now though, and said on Friday: “I'm a passionate Englishman and the thought of coaching your country is something I'm interested in.

“I'm in the process so I suppose it depends what happens - I'm very conscious that I'm in a job now that I've loved and I still love.

“There's an excitement to have another go at it, and a frustration at the last time because in some ways you always have a vision when you're doing any job of where you want to go.”

Meanwhile, Newell told Sky Sports News: “I want to bring an atmosphere of relaxed professionalism into the dressing room.

“I think that is what I have done here for the past 12 years. I'm used to building and rebuilding teams. That's what I've had to do over the past 12 years - changing players and changing staff and I've got an awful lot of experience to bring.”If Moores were to get the nod, it would come as a major blow to a county whom he led to an improbable County Championship triumph in 2011.

Giles had widely been considered the favourite to take charge of England in the wake of Flower's departure but his link with England's disastrous Twenty20 campaign in Bangladesh has seen Moores' name increasingly move to the fore.