Butcher, the former England batter, has also suggested Ben Stokes as the only viable option to replace Joe Root as captain
Mark Butcher has suggested that Rob Key should appoint a single head coach across all formats of cricket and reinstate the role of national selector in his first steps as the new managing director of England men's cricket.
Key was appointed by the ECB last week to replace Ashley Giles who had been in the role since December 2018, before being sacked in February following England’s 4-0 Ashes loss.
Speaking to Sky Sports News, the former England and Surrey batter voiced his doubts over the viability of having separate Test and white-ball coaches.
Butcher said: "I don't necessarily subscribe to the view that the coaching roles should be split. I still think you should have one man in charge.
"Yes, because of the way the scheduling is, one man would not be able to fulfil all the roles and, in that case, you need good assistant coaches and people you can delegate to.
"But I would rather have one man in charge of the whole thing for the simple reason that it is human nature that if you have players moving between two dressing rooms under different leaders they are going to prefer the way one guy does it to the other. I think one man is the key."
Butcher also endorsed Ed Smith to return to the role of national selector which was scrapped last year. Following Smith's departure, Chris Silverwood took on the role of selector in addition to his coaching duties before he was sacked after England's disastrous tour of Australia this winter.
Butcher believes Ben Stokes "is perhaps the only person" secure enough in England's team to replace Joe Root as captain (Randy Brooks/AFP via Getty Images)
"I don't have a preferred candidate, but I think if you have the right team – director of cricket, good and reliable, and perhaps someone who has been in the job before, such as Ed Smith, as chairman of selectors on the outside – then the captain is able to go out there and make the team his own," said Butcher.
"The coach should be a facilitator and bring out the best in the players he has, allowing the captain to run the ship. The captain, unlike in football, is the most important person and his decisions stick."
Other names floated as a possibility to take on a national selector role include James Taylor, who is currently England's head scout and was deputy to Smith during his time in the role.
Butcher also told Sky Sports News that Ben Stokes is perhaps the only candidate to take over the captaincy of the Test side after Joe Root stepped down last week.
"In other times I would say don't give Ben Stokes the captaincy, he is too important as a player and a talisman," said Butcher. "He leads by example by dint of his performances on the field and doesn't need to be captain for people to follow him.
"However, only himself and Root are 100 per cent guaranteed picks so he is perhaps the only person who can be given the job.
"If Stokes wants to take on the role, that's the end of the conversation and I think it is made easier by the fact that Root has stepped down rather than been fired. I think Stokes would have found it difficult to step into the role under those circumstances out of loyalty to his pal but in these circumstances I think the way is clear."
Subscribe to The Cricketer for exclusive content every day: The inside track on England's Test tour with George Dobell in Pakistan, award-winning analysis, breaking news and interviews and the only place for in-depth county coverage all year round. Plus: An ad-free app experience at your fingertips. Subscribe to thecricketer.com today for just £1.
Welcome to www.thecricketer.com - the online home of the world’s oldest cricket magazine. Breaking news, interviews, opinion and cricket goodness from every corner of our beautiful sport, from village green to national arena.