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BOB WOOLMER may yet be persuaded to take over as chief coach to the England team when David Lloyd leaves the job after this summer's World Cup but Tim Lamb and Simon Pack, the officials who will lead the selection process, do not intend to make any hasty decisions.

The hope expressed yesterday by Alec Stewart, that Lloyd might be offered a new contract if England should win the tournament, was politely but smartly extinguished by Lamb, chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board.

Pack, the former NATO general who heads the international teams department, will be chiefly responsible for drawing up a shortlist of candidates, in consultation with Lamb, the chairman Lord MacLaurin and others closely involved.

The chosen man will then have to be ratified by the England management advisory committee, whose new chairman, Brian Bolus, said yesterday that he was happy with the idea of a new coach chosen from overseas, ``so long as he's the right man''.

Bolus and Lamb said that the appointment would have to be viewed as part of any reorganisation of England personnel which might result from an agreement to employ a group of players on central contracts from next season, when the international programme expands to seven home Tests and 10 internationals. A full-time manager has been mooted but some counties, and members of EMAC, are already questioning the cost of central contracts. The Daily Telegraph learnt yesterday that no contracts for the World Cup had yet been offered to the 15 England players who leave on Sunday for preparatory matches in Lahore and Sharjah.

Woolmer, who will relinquish his post as South Africa's coach at the same time as Lloyd when the tournament ends on June 20, left the door open for a possible approach when he admitted in Cape Town yesterday that he would at least be tempted by any offer.

He told BBC Radio 5 Live: ``If I was approached I would have to discuss it early with the powers that be - what it entails, what I might, if anything, achieve, and what they want from me. It is a very tough job, one of the prime jobs in cricket. I think I would have to look into it very carefully because it is a very demanding job.''

There certainly appears to be a significant shifting of Woolmer's ground here. He had indicated that he has had enough of the constant travelling which goes with being involved with international cricket but he said yesterday that he wanted a break after the World Cup and it might be that the appointment of a caretaker coach, possibly for the four-Test series against New Zealand which starts on July 1 and the winter tour of South Africa which follows from the end of October, would give Woolmer the rest he wants. His 51st birthday in May, he had already begun coaching before his retirement from first-class cricket in 1984.

It is his success as coach to South Africa over the past five years that gives him a head start over other ``overseas'' candidates such as Clive Rice and Duncan Fletcher, who are about to start three-year contracts with counties.

The more or less ceaseless international programme demands a senior coach but there is much to be said for a return to the old tradition that the England captain runs the side, with rather more low-key support from coaches and from a full-time administrative manager.

Stewart, the captain, gave Lloyd another ringing endorsement yesterday when he said: ``He loves being coach of England and he's brilliant at his job. I've thoroughly enjoyed working with him. He's been good for me and good for the team and if we win it [the World Cup] I'd like to think some people will change their mind.''

Lamb said: ``I'm not surprised Alec has said that. It's a terrific reflection of the respect in which David is held in the dressing room. We have accepted the very significant contribution he has made. There's no doubt we've become more professional in his three years. The meeting on Tuesday was very amicable. He has made his decision and we have accepted that he will resign after the World Cup.''