England poised to pick Marcus North as men’s selector over Steven Finn and Darren Gough

• Former Australia batter has worked at Durham since 2018

• New selector expected to have final say on squads

Marcus North, the former Australia middle order batter, has emerged as the leading candidate to become the new England men’s selector, with an official announcement expected in the coming days.

The 46-year-old has worked as director of cricket at Durham since 2018 and was among those interviewed for the equivalent role with England four years ago – only to miss out to Rob Key in the final stages of the process.