Neil Killeen confirmed as England fast bowling coach

As revealed by The Cricketer, the Durham bowling coach has won the race to be appointed as Jon Lewis' successor ahead of a busy 2023

Nick Howson | 11/01/2023 at 10:55

England men have appointed Neil Killeen as their new elite pace bowling coach.

As revealed by The Cricketer last week, the 47-year-old arrives from Durham where he served as a player and coach for over 25 years.

After making more than 300 appearances for the club, Killeen took up the role of bowling coach at Chester-le-Street in 2011.

He briefly had a stint as head coach between the departure of James Franklin and the arrival of Ryan Campbell and during the winter travelled with the Lions training squad to the UAE, which included working with James Anderson, Ollie Robinson, Jofra Archer and Saqib Mahmood.

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^{Killeen has been in and around the England men's setup for a number of years (Stu Forster/Getty Images)}

Killeen, who begins the role from January 18, is Jon Lewis' successor following his move to lead England women in November.

His focus will be on developing and preparing England men's next-in-line pace bowlers.

"It’s an exciting time to be joining the ECB, as there is a wealth of fast-bowling talent and coaching around the country that I'm looking forward to working with in order to maintain England's strong contingent of pace bowlers in the future," said Killeen.

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^{Killeen has led Durham's bowlers since 2011 (Stu Forster/Getty Images)}

"I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone at Durham for the continued support both as a player and a coach over the last 30 years, it has been a great journey.

"A big thank you also to all the members for their continued support throughout my career. I look forward to returning and watching alongside them in the future. It has been an honour to represent the club and I would like to wish them continued success for the future."

It is understood that Kabir Ali at Yorkshire and Kent's Simon Cook were also interviewed by selection panel Rob Key, Mo Mobat and Richard Dawson.