Paul Grayson is set to lose his job as Essex head coach, with former England wicketkeeper Paul Nixon among the favourites to replace him.

The club's cricket committee, headed by Ronnie Irani – who took over as chairman last month – will meet on Tuesday to discuss the coaching position, with Irani already having spoken of the need for a 'massive' improvement in Essex's fortunes.

Grayson has been in the job for eight years, during which time Essex have won more limited-overs matches than almost every team in the country, but haven't converted that record into silverware.

Essex's Paul Grayson looks on ahead of the start of play for Birmingham Bears vs Essex Eagle in T20 Blast

The head coach's (left) team lost by 24 runs to the holders in Warwickshire in the game on Thursday

Former England and Leicestershire wicketkeeper Paul Nixon is among the favourites to replace Grayson

In that time, they have spent only one season in the top tier of the Championship, finishing last out of nine in 2010.

Irani, a former club captain and all-rounder who appeared in three Tests and 31 one-day internationals for England, recently told BBC Essex: 'We need to try to get into division one of the County Championship.

'We've fallen short of that for quite a few years now. We have to change and we have to improve massively.'

It is understood that Nixon could be named as Grayson's successor, though Grant Flower – the Zimbabwean who used to play at Essex and is now Pakistan's batting coach – is also in the mix.

Grayson told Sportsmail: 'All I am doing is preparing for a 50-over game on Wednesday against Sussex. I can't stop people speculating about my position.'