Essex have continued their winter overhaul by appointing former Yorkshire and England batsman Anthony McGrath as assistant head coach.
McGrath was chosen following an application process to assist newly-appointed head coach Chris Silverwood , and joins several new arrivals among the playing staff – with Wahab Riaz , Adam Milne, Ashar Zaidi and Matthew Quinn all arriving in recent weeks.
Ryan ten Doeschate and Ravi Bopara have also been appointed as club and limited-overs captains respectively, with Tom Westley appointed vice-captain over a busy off-season at the Essex County Ground, Chelmsford.
McGrath spent his entire playing career with his home county Yorkshire, making 583 appearances across all three formats and featuring in four Tests and 14 one-day internationals for England.
NEW SIGNING | Anthony McGrath joins Essex as new Assistant Head Coach for 2016! Full story – https://t.co/bIUCX41fyk pic.twitter.com/lzMWmQ197Z
— Essex Cricket (@EssexCricket) February 12, 2016
Since 2014 the 40-year-old has worked as a player mentor at Headingley, while also helping out with coaching duties.
Silverwood said: “I’ve known Anthony for a very long time, and he is a great addition to our staff.
“He has excellent cricket knowledge, and during his interview it was clear he had a real passion for this job.
“He is a very good coach, and will help our batsmen improve their game. He has experience of working with some of the best batsmen in the country – names such as [Jonny] Bairstow, [Joe] Root, [Gary] Ballance, [Adam] Lyth – so his experience will be invaluable to our players.
“We have a strong batting line-up, and I am confident Anthony will complement it perfectly.”
Source: ECB