Sidebottom joins Surrey as bowling consultant

Sidebottom, who retired last year, will join the club for the first half of the County Championship campaign and, according to a Surrey statement, will work with bowling coach Geoff Arnold "on and directly before matchdays"

^{Ryan Sidebottom has joined Surrey as bowling consultant}

Surrey have hired former Yorkshire and England paceman Ryan Sidebottom as fast bowling consultant ahead of the 2018 season.

Sidebottom, who retired last year, will join the club for the first half of the County Championship campaign and, according to a Surrey statement, will work with bowling coach Geoff Arnold "on and directly before matchdays".

"It's great to be back in the game and I can't wait to get out there working with the boys. It's a fantastic club and hopefully I can bring my experience to help support the team and staff as we target some silverware," Sidebottom said.

"It's going to be interesting working with the team in the run up to a match but not actually playing in the match myself! But I'm relishing the opportunity and can't wait."

^{Sidebottom will work with bowling coach Geoff Arnold}

Surrey director of cricket Alec Stewart said: "Ryan will be a very good addition to the coaching team with his vast experience and knowledge of the game. I'm very confident he will act as an excellent mentor to our bowlers and work well alongside Geoff Arnold."

Surrey say the appointment will "enable Arnold, where relevant, to attend Second XI matches and work with players in the professional squad who might not be involved in match days".

Sidebottom's glowing career brought him 131 international wickets across cricket's three formats. 

He retired with an overall career wicket haul of 1,053 and a first-class average of 23.80, as well as memories of five Championship title wins with Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire.