Former England seamer Jon Lewis has been appointed as Sussex’s new bowling coach after bringing the curtain down on a glittering 20-year playing career.
The 39-year-old took 849 first-class wickets during a county path that saw him represent Gloucestershire, Surrey and Sussex.
Lewis also won international honours, playing one Test, 13 one-day internationals and two Twenty20s for England.
The seamer, who made his first-class debut in 1995, enjoyed a highly-successful spell at the Bristol County Ground.
He was part of the Gloucestershire side that dominated one-day cricket and won seven trophies in five seasons between 1999 and 2005.
After spending two years at the Kia Oval, Lewis joined Sussex in 2013 on a one-year deal and featured in eight matches as the club finished third in LV= County Championship Division One for the second successive season.
Injuries hampered his progress in the latter half of last term and now he is charged with the task of passing on his experience to a bowling department that has been boosted by the arrivals of Tymal Mills and Ajmal Shahzad from Essex and Nottinghamshire respectively.
Lewis said: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people that have been a part of my life as a professional cricketer, especially those at Gloucestershire and England.
“I feel very privileged that I was able to have fulfilled a career as a professional player for over 20 years and able to gain my coaching qualifications and experience alongside.
“I am now very excited to make the seamless transition from a player into a coach at a very welcoming and successful club; Sussex County Cricket Club.
“I am looking forward to becoming part of and complimenting the already successful existing coaching team.
That's enough,on to the next chapter. Thanks to all who contributed to make my journey so enjoyable. pic.twitter.com/iUunWsukKs
— Jon Lewis (@jonlew800) November 28, 2014
“It gives me great pleasure to be given the opportunity of developing and maximising the success of the existing bowling attack and the next crop of exciting young bowlers at Sussex.
“I will be grabbing the challenge wholeheartedly.”
Sussex professional cricket manager Mark Robinson added: “Firstly we would like to congratulate Jon on what has been a fantastic playing career.
“He has been consistently one of the standout bowlers in the County Championship and played a leading role in winning many a one-day trophy with Gloucestershire. He represented his country with distinction and was a fierce competitor that you had to respect.
“When Jon was with us last year it became very apparent he was born to coach and instantly gained the respect of all the players within the squad.
“Jon’s role is to oversee and develop the current bowlers that we have and also nurture the younger bowlers in our youth system so in time we will constantly have a depth of seamers at the disposal of the first team.”