James Foster reveals international ambitions after being named first English coach in men’s Hundred

Five of the eight posts were handed to Australians, while South Africa, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka all had one representative each.

However, with Darren Lehmann relinquishing his role at Headingley, the Superchargers turned to former Essex wicketkeeper Foster.

The 42-year-old, who many regard as one of the finest glovemen of his generation, represented England in all three formats from 2002 to 2009.

Foster believes his experiences on the global franchise circuit - including in the Indian Premier League, Pakistan Super League and Bangladesh Premier League - mean more than just his nationality.

"I'm incredibly proud to be the first English coach," said the new Superchargers head coach. "It's a great opportunity, but it's not necessarily about that for me.

"There was a fair bit of bad press about it last year but maybe because of the journey I've been on in coaching I don't see it. I wasn't involved in The Hundred last year but I was asked 'what are your thoughts about there being no English head coaches?' and I said it's a great thing for English coaches to work under foreign coaches. I hope the English guys involved last year were able to do that.

"I've deliberately tried to work under numerous people to gain experience and see other ways of doing things beyond the so-called 'English way'.

"You can tap into great minds and in my career so far I've worked under the likes of Stephen Fleming, Mahela Jayawardene, Trevor Bayliss, Tom Moody, Shane Bond, Mohammad Akram, Andy Flower….there's so much diverse experience there and I've been very fortunate to learn off these guys.

"It was a deliberate plan. Why wouldn't you want to try and work under some of the best foreign coaches in the world? For the last three years I've been working under Brendon McCullum at Kolkata Knight Riders, which has been an absolute joy."

England's Test and limited overs teams are both headed by foreign coaches, with McCullum and Matthew Mott leading the way.

However, Foster revealed he would like to test himself on the international scene, saying: "I'd love to coach at the very highest level, in international cricket.

"I retired from playing in 2018 and I'm just trying to gain as much knowledge as I can. In terms of the England set-up, maybe at some stage in the future, but I think it's probably a long way off."