Tim Murtagh signs player-coach deal with Middlesex for 2023

NICK FRIEND: The 41-year-old, who has 985 wickets for the Lord's club, will lead the fast-bowling unit alongside head coach Richard Johnson following Jade Dernbach's return to Surrey

Tim Murtagh has expanded his portfolio at Middlesex by adding a coaching position on top of his playing role.

In September, following Middlesex's County Championship promotion, The Cricketer reported that Murtagh, 41, had spoken to director of cricket Alan Coleman about continuing his playing career for a further season, and he will now help out in a coaching capacity, with a particular focus on the seam bowling department.

Jade Dernbach was hired by Middlesex last summer as a bowling consultant, but he has since returned to Surrey, opening up a vacancy on the staff.

"He was fantastic," Coleman told The Cricketer, "and I can't speak highly enough of the contribution he made to us, not only in the changing room but as an assistant coach."

^{Murtagh is closing in on 1,000 wickets for Middlesex (Naomi Baker/Getty Images)}

It is anticipated that Murtagh and first-team coach Richard Johnson – with more than 1,400 first-class wickets between them – will share the load of working with the club's seamers. Indeed, Johnson was Middlesex's bowling coach in a previous guise, while a separate consultant is expected to arrive with an eye on the club's spinners.

The player-coach role is the latest hat to be worn by Murtagh in recent times: last summer, he took on the job on an interim, de facto basis during the Royal London Cup, when Dernbach was seconded to The Hundred, while his injury troubles through 2022 often meant that he was present mainly in a leadership and support capacity in any case.

But he is 15 wickets shy of 1,000 for the county since arriving from Surrey in 2007 and has made 353 appearances across formats in that time; last year, when it was announced that Peter Handscomb was leaving to return home to Australia, he also picked up the club captaincy.

There is no expectation that his coaching duties will affect his on-field activity in 2023 – only Toby Roland-Jones took more red-ball wickets than the veteran in 2022 – but there is perhaps a sense that this new role could signal a step closer towards retirement for a legend of the domestic game in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

^{Another summer of toil beckons for county batters (Clive Rose/Getty Images)}

Murtagh added: "I am delighted to be continuing my playing career for another season after the high of getting promoted last year and am really excited for the opportunity to develop my coaching skills alongside playing this year.

"I couldn't think of a better person to learn from than Richard Johnson and the rest of the coaching staff in the group. I am looking forward to helping the team achieve success in Division One on the pitch this season, in tandem with offering what advice and experience I have to the other bowlers in the squad."

Coleman explained: "Inevitably playing careers come to an end, and we have to prepare ourselves for a time when we won't be seeing Murts trundling in and trapping batters in front, although for 2023 we’re stoked that he'll still be doing his stuff with the ball, whilst also building up more coaching experience and helping the bowling group develop.

"Who knows what 2024 and beyond holds, however I for one am most definitely grateful that Murts will be with us in 2023."

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