Welch returns to Warwickshire

Former Warwickshire seamer Graeme Welch, who also skippererd Derbyshire, is returning to Edgbaston as bowling coach

Warwickshire have announced former bowler Graeme Welch is to be appointed the county's bowling coach.

Welch played 77 first-class matches for the Edgbaston side between 1994 and 2000, taking 477 first-class wickets and 197 List A wickets over his 12-year career.

The 37-year-old, who was forced to retire through injury in 2007, has been bowling coach at Essex for the past two seasons but will return to Edgbaston on February 1, as soon as the paperwork has been finalised.

Welch, who also skippered Derbyshire, said: “I am delighted to be coming back to Birmingham and am looking forward to working with Ash [Giles] and Dougie [Brown] again.

“I have made some great friends over the past two years (at Essex). The club has been very good to me by giving me a chance to start my coaching career.

"There is a lot of young talent coming through which stands Essex in a very good position.

“Having started my career at Warwickshire I spent 10 years at Edgbaston. My son lives in Birmingham and he is growing up quickly, I obviously do not want to miss out on his childhood.

“It has been a great experience working with the coaching staff here at Essex. Over the last couple of years I have learnt a huge amount from (batting coach) Graham Gooch, (first-team coach) Paul Grayson, (performance manager) Barry Hyam and (academy director) John Childs and I thank them for all they have done.”

Ashley Giles continued: “We are delighted that Graeme will be coming on board, it is great to have him joining our backroom staff.

“He has all the experience to help our bowling attack moving forward and I am sure the boys will welcome him into the dressing room.”

Grayson added: “We have all enjoyed working with Graeme - he quickly became a popular member of the dressing room.

“He was not only a big influence on the bowlers but all of the playing staff. With his family situation he obviously wants to be closer to home, he is not leaving for any cricket reasons.

“He will be missed, but it is up to us now to support our bowlers for the upcoming season.”