Proteas head coach Ottis Gibson hasn’t necessarily downplayed suggestion of a third stint with England.

Gibson’s contract with Cricket South Africa will end later this year – and might not be renewed.

England head coach Trevor Bayliss, meanwhile, will vacate the position in September. Gibson is reportedly among the candidates to succeed him.

‘My contract is up in September. I’m happy to be linked with any job, because after that I might not have a job,’ Gibson was quoted as saying by BBC Sport.

Gibson was England’s bowling coach in 2007 and again in 2015. He was also the head coach of the West Indies in 2010 and 2011.

‘I’ve been living in England for over 20 years, so that’s the answer. I enjoyed both my stints with England. I know a lot of the guys in the dressing room,’ he added.

‘The way England are playing at the moment, I was very much involved in that for the first two years, and they have gone on two years since I left.’

England and South Africa will open the 2019 World Cup at The Oval in London on Thursday. The tournament co-hosts lost a warm-up fixture to Australia – and then beat Afghanistan. The Proteas beat Sri Lanka, and shared a washout with the West Indies.

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