Warwickshire County Cricket Club has appointed Paul Farbrace as its new Sport Director to have lead responsibility for its men’s and women’s senior teams and the performance pathway.

Farbrace has been Assistant Coach of the England Men’s team since 2014, where he has helped transform the team’s performances in white ball cricket and supported memorable home Test series victories over Australia and India. He will take up his new position with Warwickshire in March following the International T20 series with West Indies in the Caribbean.

In addition to his vast knowledge of our domestic game, he (Paul) has achieved great success in the international arena, by winning an ICC global event.

Neil Snowball

Prior to joining the England set-up, Farbrace enjoyed a highly successful spell as Head Coach of the Sri Lanka Men’s Team who he led to a first ICC World T20 title and a fifth Asia Cup triumph in 2014. He also worked as First Team Coach at Kent and Second XI Coach at Yorkshire after enjoying a 20-year playing career with Kent and Middlesex.

“Paul was an outstanding candidate throughout our recruitment process and we believe that his all round experience made him the ideal person to work with Jim Troughton and the rest of the performance team to drive the club forward and build on the good work done by Ashley Giles across all of the Warwickshire and Birmingham Bears teams,” said Warwickshire CCC Chief Executive Neil Snowball.

“In addition to his vast knowledge of our domestic game, he has achieved great success in the international arena, by winning an ICC global event with Sri Lanka and helping transform the England men’s team into the world’s number one ranked One-Day International team.

“Paul has been one of the most sought-after coaches in the game in recent years, and we are delighted that we have been able to secure his services here at Warwickshire. Everyone at Edgbaston is delighted to have him on-board and we look forward to him joining us after the Windies tour.”

Farbrace takes over as Sport Director from Ashley Giles, who left the Bears in January to take on the role of Managing Director of England Men’s Cricket.

The Sport Director position at Edgbaston will see him work closely with Warwickshire Men’s First Team Coach Jim Troughton, Women & Girls Performance Manager Laura MacLeod, Elite Cricket Development Manager Paul Greetham, Cricket Operations Manager Keith Cook and Head Groundsman Gary Barwell.

Paul Farbrace said: “Warwickshire is a very special club with incredibly proud traditions, and I’m very excited at being given this opportunity to join as Sport Director and to work with such a talented cricket management team.

“Whilst having won trophies across all formats in the last 10 years, the squad has gone through a major transition process in the last two years it has a very exciting future following the emergence of several talented young players.

“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with the England men’s team over the last five years and the players have a fantastic opportunity to cement a place in history this summer through the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup and the Specsavers Ashes series.

“I would like to thank all of the fellow coaches, players and staff for their support and I wish everyone the very best for the future.”