Sussex have announced that Jon Lewis has been appointed as the club’s new bowling coach following his retirement.
The 39-year-old, who represented England across all three formats of the game, took 849 first-class wickets during his first-class career, which began in 1995 with Gloucestershire.
He helped them to seven trophies in five seasons between 1999 and 2005 as the Bristol outfit dominated domestic one-day cricket. The seamer took over 300 wickets in List A cricket as well as 62 T20 scalps.
Lewis moved to Sussex from Surrey last winter signing a one-year contract and played in eight County Championship matches, claiming a best of 4 for 34 against Middlesex at Hove, but injury restricted his first-team appearances in the latter half of the summer and he has now been tasked with overseeing the development of a growing bowling unit at Hove.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people that have been a part of my life as a professional cricketer. Especially those at Gloucestershire and England,” Lewis said.
“I feel very privileged that I was able to have fulfilled a career as a professional player for over twenty years and able to gain my coaching qualifications and experience alongside.
“I am now very excited to make the seamless transition from a player into a coach, at a very welcoming and successful club; Sussex County Cricket Club.
“I am looking forward to becoming part of and complimenting the already successful existing coaching team. It gives me great pleasure to be given the opportunity of developing and maximising the success of the existing bowling attack and the next crop of exciting young bowlers at Sussex. I will be grabbing the challenge wholeheartedly.”
Sussex’s Professional Cricket Manager Mark Robinson said, “Firstly we would like to congratulate Jon on what has been a fantastic playing career. He has been consistently one of the stand out bowlers in the County Championship and played a leading role in winning many a one-day trophy with Gloucestershire. He represented his country with distinction and was a fierce competitor that you had to respect.
“When Jon was with us last year it became very apparent he was born to coach and instantly gained the respect of all the players within the squad. Jon’s role is to oversee and develop the current bowlers that we have and also nurture the younger bowlers in our youth system so in time we will constantly have a depth of seamers at the disposal of the first team.”
