Andrew Strauss has denied that an England and Wales Cricket Board overhaul which will see James Whitaker replaced as national selector is not as a result of England's Ashes thumping.
The ECB this week announced that Whitaker will step down at the end of March with a "new approach to scouting, assessing and selecting players for the senior Test, T20 and One-Day sides" brought in.
England suffered a 4-0 drubbing to Australia Down Under, but director of cricket Strauss said that was not the reason for a shake-up.
"This was in place prior to the Ashes starting." he told Sky Sports News.
"We'd spoken about it and it's very much based on what our future needs are. The last thing I want it to be seen as is a reaction to the Ashes series - that was never the intention here.
"I feel strongly that now is the right time to modernise the way we approach our player ID and selection.
"There are more and more challenges for the England team going forward; different formats, different parts of the world, different skills required.
"We need to spread our tentacles wider and make sure that we get better information on all those players playing county cricket, some of whom may not be doing brilliantly for their counties but may just have something that England needs going forward to play in Sri Lanka or the West Indies or Australia.
"It's a step forward and I'm really comfortable and confident that we're going to get better information than we've had previously."
Strauss said the ECB hopes to appoint Whitaker's replacement in time for the start of the Test summer.
