Leicestershire name ex-Lancashire allrounder Smith as Second XI coach

Tom Smith is the final piece of a large-scale restructure of the backroom staff at Grace Road by Leicestershire head coach Paul Nixon, who has recently brought John Sadler and Matt Mason into his team

Former Lancashire allrounder Tom Smith is the new Second XI coach at Leicestershire.

Smith is the final piece of a large-scale restructure of the backroom staff at Grace Road by Leicestershire head coach Paul Nixon, who has recently brought John Sadler and Matt Mason into his team as assistant coach and head bowling coaching respectively.

The 32-year-old - a former team-mate of Nixon during a loan spell at the county in 2008 - was forced to retire in 2016 on medical grounds and has held coaching roles with Lancashire Thunder and England Women since.

He said: "This is an exciting opportunity for me at Leicestershire County Cricket Club and it is great to be working alongside Nico [Paul Nixon], John Sadler, Matt Mason and all of the coaching staff.

TOM SMITH CAREER STATS

First class: 107 matches, 3,972 runs (ave 29.42, 3 100s), 241 wickets (ave 28.56)

List A: 73 matches, 1,635 runs (ave 32.70, 2 100s), 84 wickets (ave 28.38)

T20: 96 matches, 2,113 runs (ave 27.80, s/r 120.67), 51 wickets (eco 7.92)

"I enjoyed my time here as a player alongside Nico so it was an easy decision to make. I’m really looking forward to being part of a fresh coaching team at the Foxes and can’t wait to get started."

Nixon said: "Tom is a brilliant bloke who I had the pleasure of playing alongside here. He was a top-class cricketer who was highly skilled across all formats. Tom was named as captain of Lancashire at a young age which shows his pedigree.  

"He has since upskilled his coaching CV with work at Lancashire both in the men’s and women’s game and has also been working with the England Women team. We’re delighted to have Tom on board with us."