England are bracing themselves for the departure of their bowling coach, Ottis Gibson, with the former West Indies and Durham seamer having emerged as the leading candidate to become the new head coach of current opponents South Africa.

Russell Domingo, the incumbent, has had to reapply for his position after four years in charge but it is understood Gibson is considered the frontrunner. England would be reluctant for the 48-year-old to leave the set-up and an announcement is expected at the end of the series.

Gibson is currently in his second spell working with England’s seamers since rejoining the coaching staff under Peter Moores in 2015 after a spell in charge of West Indies and his going would leave a considerable dent in their plans before this winter’s Ashes series.

England fail to capitalise on starts and lose Ben Stokes late in the day Read more

Speaking after the first day of the Old Trafford Test, the England assistant coach, Paul Farbrace, said: “Ottis is someone with a lot of international experience. He did a great job for West Indies, winning the World Twenty20 in 2012. We wouldn’t want to lose him. He has done a great job for England but at the moment Russell Domingo is head coach of South Africa and doing a brilliant job, so it would be disrespectful of us to talk about his position. We have had nothing official and hopefully it will be left for the end of the series.”

The Guardian understands Gibson is torn over the decision, with the money on offer from South Africa double that of his current England salary and South Africa a country he enjoyed living in during his playing days at Gauteng and Border. Andrew Strauss, the director of cricket, may yet be able to persuade him to remain in situ with an increased counter offer.

News of the approach for Gibson came on an absorbing first day at Old Trafford, where England lost Ben Stokes for 58 late in the day to close on 260 for six. Farbrace said: “The last five minutes we’ll be disappointed with. Had Ben still been there we would say it was a decent day.

“This morning was tough. The first two hours we could have lost more than one wicket but it showed guts, skill and some luck to go into lunch one down. The good thing is if you bat first, you have shown intent to take control of the game.”

Joe Root had earlier passed 5,000 runs but his removal for 52, lbw to Duanne Olivier, proved a source of frustration for the England captain, even though he had equalled John Edrich’s national record of half-centuries or more in 10 successive Tests. Farbrace added: “We will take 50 every time – that’s not a bad average – but he will be disappointed to get out that way because he prides himself on going big. That is what drives him to be what he is and 5,000 Test runs are testimony to a high-quality player that seems to be getting better and better with every series he plays.”