Gillespie has concerns over level of autonomy in picking the team

He will overhaul the current selection policy once he has been appointed

Jason Gillespie is understood to have agreed to be England head coach

England's current selection policy is expected to face a complete overhaul when Jason Gillespie is appointed as head coach.

The Australian is understood to have agreed in principle to take over the role made vacant by the sacking of Peter Moores earlier this month, with an announcement on the Yorkshire coach’s appointment possibly coming as early as Tuesday.

It was a key feature of the discussions last week between Gillespie and Andrew Strauss, England’s director of cricket, the pair meeting in Leeds on Monday and again in London on Thursday.

England's selection policy faces a complete overhaul when Jason Gillespie is appointed as head coach

Gillespie is understood to have agreed in principle to take over the role as early as this Tuesday

And while Gillespie has taken a relaxed approach to the issues of Kevin Pietersen’s continued non-selection and the Test captaincy of Alastair Cook, it is believed the amount of autonomy he has over picking the team was one of the key areas of discussion during talks with Strauss.

One of the keys to Gillespie’s success at Yorkshire, where he won the County Championship last summer, has been the control he has over team selection, with the former Australia fast bowler deciding on the final XI for each game alongside his captain Andrew Gale.

Things are different with England, where a four-man panel headed by national selector James Whitaker picks the squads for each series. The coach sits on that panel but he does not have a casting vote and while he ultimately picks the team alongside the captain, he is often asked to consider players he doesn’t want.

The flaws of the current system were perfectly illustrated during England’s nightmare winter when Moores was reluctant to pick opener Alex Hales during the failed World Cup campaign in Australia and New Zealand and Adil Rashid, the Yorkshire leg-spinner, on the Test tour of the Caribbean.

Gillespie has been discussing the amount of autonomy he has over picking the team in talks over the role

Director of Cricket Andrew Strauss is keen to back Gillespie on selecting squads when he is appointed

It led to frustrations from all sides, with Moores clearly having no confidence in players he felt were foisted upon him and the selection panel upset two cricketers they felt were clearly good enough for the international game were continually overlooked. That’s a situation Gillespie is keen to avoid and it is believed Strauss, who has said he will sit in on selection meetings this summer, is keen to back the Australian.

That is likely to see Whitaker sacked in the coming weeks and Gillespie appoint his own scouts, who will make recommendations to him on the up-and-coming players from county cricket he should consider.

Mick Newell and Angus Fraser, the two other selectors on the current panel, could be retained in a scouting capacity, although Gillespie could bring in his own people from Yorkshire. Michael Vaughan and Alec Stewart, the two former England captains who were in the running for the directorship role before Strauss got the job earlier this month, both agree Gillespie’s desire for greater autonomy is necessary if England are to move forward.

Michael Vaughan says Gillespie’s desire for greater autonomy is necessary if England are to move forward

‘In selection, if English cricket thinks it will be the same with Gillespie in charge they need to think again,’ Vaughan told the BBC. ‘As a head coach you have to be able to make appointments of your own.’

Stewart said: ‘There’s not enough accountability. Either Andrew Strauss picks the squad and hands it over to the coach and captain to pick the final XI, or he lets Gillespie get on with it.’

The Mail on Sunday also understands Gillespie has been given assurances he will be allowed some time off to be with his family.

Gillespie, 40, has four children under the age of 10 and it is believed his wife Anna held significant reservations about the schedule this year that could see her husband away from home for up to 300 nights.