News

Richard Dawson named as England Spin Coach for West Indies Series

17 June 2020

Gloucestershire Cricket Head Coach Richard Dawson will join up with England Cricket next week, taking on the role of spin coach for the duration of the West Indies Test series.

Dawson, who successfully led the England Lions in Australia over the winter, has been working closely with some of the country’s established and up-and-coming spinners since late last year and now has the opportunity to coach under Chris Silverwood.

The news came as a big surprise. “I wasn’t expecting it at all,” Dawson said. “I was preparing for the season at Gloucestershire and waiting for guidance from the ECB on the county schedule and then this great opportunity came up. I’m really looking forward to working with the England group and I’m grateful to be asked to work with such top class players and coaches.”

Dawson was selected for this series alongside other coaches including Glen Chapple, Matt Walker, Chris Read.

Richard will join the England setup on Tuesday 23 June ahead of the first Test match against the West Indies scheduled to begin on 8 July. He will be with the team for the majority of July until the 27th, the day before the Test series draws to a close.

Gloucestershire Cricket CEO Will Brown commented:

“It is absolutely brilliant news that Richard has been asked to join the England training camp as their Spin Bowling Coach. Having led an unbeaten tour of Australia with the England Lions as Head Coach earlier in the year it is great to see him once more involved with one of the National sides.

We know that he will do an exceptional job with this group of England players and that he will flourish in this environment.”

In his absence, Assistant Head Coach Ian Harvey will take charge of the Gloucestershire squad should first team training resume before his return. Harvey will be helped in large part by Head of Medical David Bartlett who will take on a larger role due to lockdown restrictions.

Dawson is confident the Gloucestershire side will be in good hands when they return:

“If training resumes then Ian Harvey as Assistant Coach will be leading the team in training. There won’t be any fixtures but the whole squad will be in good hands. All of the coaching staff have been around for a long time and they know how it works.

The guidelines provided by the Government will probably be the biggest challenge given that we can’t do things normally but the training will take care of itself.”

Gloucestershire Cricket Chief Executive Will Brown added:

“Thanks to Ian Harvey who will take responsibility for the Gloucestershire squads as and when they return to training; we are very lucky to have someone of Harv’s skill and ability to lead our fantastic Gloucestershire cricketers and coaches during this time.”

Dawson’s time in the England setup as a coach began last November when he, alongside Bracey, flew to Mumbai to for a specialist spin bowling camp designed to enhance the ability to bowl and face spin in different conditions. There he worked alongside recently appointed Surrey Head Coach Vikram Solanki.

Following that, he led the England Lions on an Australia Tour that saw the team return home undefeated for the first time. Marcus Trescothick, Jonathan Trott, Jason Kerr, Carl Hopkinson and Bruce French were names added to the list of high-profile coaches that Dawson has worked alongside.

ECB Performance Director, Mo Bobat, said:

“Involving Glen Chapple, Richard Dawson and Matt Walker adds significant leadership strength to our coaching team, as well as their obvious technical and tactical knowledge.

“Both Glen (Chapple) and Richard (Dawson) were involved in winter Lions activity, so it’s nice for them and the players to build on effective coaching relationships and it’s also a real positive for our domestic game that we can expose a greater number of our coaches to international cricket.”

Gloucestershire wicketkeeper-batsman James Bracey has been called up by England for the 'behind-closed-doors training group'. For more information on Bracey's call up – Click here

• Previous
• Next