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Lloyd's gone, long live Woolmer!

David Lloyd, 52, will end his three-year reign as England's cricket coach in June, in the immediate aftermath of the World Cup. The decision follows the reluctance of the England Cricket Board to give the coach certain assurances that Lloyd had asked for, as regards his future.

Lloyd is understood to have sought those assurances since he was sitting on attractive media offers, and he needed to be sure that giving those up would not harm him financially. It will be recalled that Lloyd had a career in broadcasting before he took over as coach, being a member of BBC Radio's Test Match Special team. The buzz is that he is now likely to join either Sky Sports or Channel 4.

Lloyd's contract in fact expires after the four-match Test series against New Zealand in July and August, but decided to make his exit immediately after the World Cup.

The Lancastrian, who made his Test debut against India at Lord's in 1974 in place of the injured Geoffrey Boycott. Lloyd took over as coach from Raymond Illingworth after England's World Cup disaster in 1996.

Lloyd has since guided England to Test series wins over India, New Zealand and South Africa, a one day win in the Champions' Trophy in Sharjah two years ago -- but he has also seen the side go down to successive Ashes defeats at home and away against the old foe, Australia.

``I'm looking forward to completing my tenure with a successful and enjoyable World Cup campaign,'' said Lloyd.

Chairman of selectors David Graveney said that Lloyd had done a brilliant job as coach despite some clashes with the cricket bosses, and that his exit was just ``a question of someone coming to the end of their contract''.

A seeming inability to keep his foot out of his mouth saw Lloyd -- 'Bumble', to players and fans alike -- get into trouble on more than one occasion. There was the drawn series against Zimbabwe, at the end of which Lloyd made himself the laughing stock with his ``we flippin' murdered them''.

Last year, Lloyd cast doubt on the action of Sri Lankan spinner Muthiah Muralitharan. Ironically, Muralitharan went on to claim 16 wickets in the one-off Oval Test and bowled Lanka to a superb 10-wicket victory.

Both instances drew severe reprimands for Lloyd, and further fuelled speculations about his longevity in the job.

However, among the players, Lloyd has always been a huge hit. England captain Alec Stewart called the news of his imminent exit a shock, and added that it would give his side an added impetus to do well in the World Cup.

``He has brought a real sense of passion to the job of England coach and it would be great to reward him with the World Cup as a final vote of thanks from the players for all he has done for us,'' Stewart said.

The ECB meanwhile is understood to have shortlisted South African coach Bob Woolmer and former Test stars turned selectors Graham Gooch and Mike Gatting as possible replacements. Others on the list include former Australian star Allan Border, and former Glamorgan coach Duncan Fletcher. Fletcher, though, is also tipped to take over from Woolmer as South Africa's coach, with Woolmer ending his tenure after the World Cup.

Interestingly, Bob Woolmer had in an interview a while ago indicated that to his way of thinking, a lack of ambition and a tendency to treat cricket as just another day at the office was responsible for England's cricketing decline.

"People should go in with the ambition of wanting to play for their country. If they go in because it is a job, there must be a question mark against their name," the South Africa coach had said in the aftermath of that Oval defeat by Sri Lanka. "You must go out and want to win: play attractive cricket and take the fear of failure away from your players," he said.

Woolmer had in fact made a bid for the coaching job of England after his initial success with Warwickshire. At that time, however, Keith Fletcher was ensconced in a five year contract, and the South African job offered him a lucrative alternative.

Interestingly, however, Woolmer in recent times has repeatedly said that he is not too keen on another international coaching assignment.

It remains to be seen if the ECB will make the approach, and what Woolmer's own reaction to it would be when made.