England appoint Marcus Trescothick as batting coach, Jon Lewis as pace bowling coach and Jeetan Patel as spin-bowling coach; Richard Dawson leaves role as Gloucestershire head coach to become England’s elite pathway coach
Marcus Trescothick has been named England batting coach as part of four new appointments to the coaching set-up.
Former opener Trescothick – who scored over 10,000 international runs for England across the formats between 2000 and 2006, including 5,825 in 76 Tests – will take up his new role in mid-March after stepping down from his position as assistant coach at Somerset.
Ex-Gloucestershire seamer Jon Lewis has been named as pace bowling coach, while former New Zealand spinner Jeetan Patel has agreed a permanent position as spin-bowling coach after a number of short-term stints.
Lewis will leave his job as Young Lions head coach with that role reconfigured into an elite pathway coach and filled by former Yorkshire off-spinner Richard Dawson, who will depart his position as Gloucestershire head coach at the end of March.
Speaking on the appointments, ECB performance director Mo Bobat said: “Following an extensive recruitment process, I’m really excited about the calibre of the individuals that we’ve appointed into these specialist roles.
“Marcus, Jon and Jeetan have demonstrated their ability at the highest level and also show huge potential for the future. Working alongside Carl Hopkinson, our current elite fielding coach, we have the makings of a strong specialist coaching team, possessing a diverse range of experience.
“Over the last couple of years, we’ve been working to grow our pool of players that are ready to play for England. Achieving the type of depth that has enabled us to compete successfully across formats, both home and away.
“The elite coaches will play an important role in enhancing this depth further, helping us to sustain success over time. We want to be renowned and respected for the quality of our coaching.
“Working in conjunction with counties, they will have responsibility for developing and preparing current and next-in-line England players whilst also adding value to our England and Lions environments. In addition, they will support the development of our best Under 19 players through our Young Lions programme.
“Jon has done a fantastic job leading our Young Lions programme and England U19 team over the last couple of years. His change of role has provided the opportunity to look at that position with fresh eyes.
“Given the strength of applicants that we’ve had through the recruitment process, and the need for us to have an adaptable coaching workforce, I’m absolutely delighted that we’ve been able to appoint Richard Dawson as our elite pathway coach.
“Richard’s coaching pedigree speaks for itself and to have someone of his quality playing a prominent role in the development and preparation of our best young players is a real asset.
“Richard will lead our Young Lions programme and England U19 team but will also coach across the pathway at both Lions and England level. Richard’s specialist coaching experience with spin bowlers was a further attraction and he will support Jeetan in an area that is a real priority for us.
“With a busy season of cricket fast approaching, I’m grateful to both Somerset and Gloucestershire for releasing Marcus and Richard in a timely manner and I’m looking forward to our new coaching team working together in the build-up to our summer international programme.
“I’m also appreciative of the support that all counties have provided over the last 16 months, allowing us to engage their coaches whilst our own positions have remained vacant.”
Speaking on his departure from Gloucestershire, Dawson said: “It has been a huge privilege to have been the head coach of Gloucestershire Cricket since 2015.
“There were highs and lows on the pitch but winning the Royal London One-Day Cup in 2015 and gaining promotion to Division One of the County Championship in 2019 were highlights on the pitch, as was seeing a Gloucestershire player breaking into the England set-up last year.
“As a playing and coaching unit, we have faced a lot of challenges off the field, and I’m proud of the togetherness of this squad, who have been incredibly supportive of one another through good and bad times.
“I’m confident the group is in a strong place with a healthy mix of experience and youth to compete in all formats of the game.
“I am looking forward to the challenge of this new role at ECB and leave with fantastic memories of my time at Gloucestershire.”
