Marcus Trescothick, Jon Lewis, Jeetan Patel Named As ECB's Elite Coaches

The England Cricket Board (ECB) has appointed Marcus Trescothick, Jon Lewis, and Jeetan Patel as the new elite coaches to fill their vacant batting, pace bowling, and spin-bowling roles respectively. The appointment of Marcus Trescothick, Jon Lewis, and Jeetan Patel bring an end to the formal recruitment process from the ECB, which began in December. The three will join the staff, headed by Chris Silverwood, with Graham Thorpe and Paul Farbrace as full-time assistant coaches.

All three candidates have had a reasonable amount of experience in working with England’s set-up in recent months, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Trescothick, Lewis, and Patel were already involved in short-term consultancy roles to help share the burden in the bio-secure bubble. Trescothick, who opened for England, will begin his role from March and step down from his current spot of an assistant coach of Somerset.

Marcus Trescothick travelled to South Africa before Christmas with the national team’s white-ball squad. However, he was not involved with the Test team on their tours of Sri Lanka and India this year. Former South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis fulfilled a short-term consultancy role for Sri Lanka’s tour before Jonathan Trott took over in India.

This is a great opportunity: Marcus Trescothick

Marcus Trescothick underlined that a great opportunity has come along for him to gain further experience and enhance his resume. Simultaneously, Trescothick felt sad about moving on from Somerset but highlighted that it’s the correct time to do so and he would be working across different areas from Young Lions, Lions and with the first team too. The 45-year old wants to build batters and get them prepared to move on to the highest honours and fulfilling different roles in the same position gives him exposure to high-level coaching.

“This is a great opportunity which will allow me to further my coaching career and gain more experience. It’s a decision that comes with a heavy heart, but I think that it is the right move for me at this time. I’ll be working across different areas from Young Lions, to Lions and also with the First Team as well. It’s about preparing batters and getting them ready to move on to higher honours as they go along. The fact that I can do a few different roles within the position will really help me develop and give me exposure to some high-level coaching,” Trescothick said as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo.

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