Former Yorkshire captain McGrath gets new role

McGrath will work with players at all levels – from junior sides through to the senior squad – to help support the coaching staff.

The 39-year-old, who scored more than 14,000 runs for Yorkshire during a long and loyal playing career, had been working at the club for the past year as a player mentor and he will continue to assist with player development.

The revamp has come about following the departure last month of second-team coach Richard Dawson to become head coach at Gloucestershire, with Ian Dews, Yorkshire’s director of cricket development, now assuming full responsibility for second-team affairs alongside his existing post.

Dews, who has been involved with Yorkshire since the 1990s, has played an important role in the development of the County Championship-winning squad, supporting the work of director of cricket Martyn Moxon and first-team coach Jason Gillespie.

In addition, Richard Damms, the club’s Academy and development coach, has been promoted to the role of Academy head coach with responsibility for developing the club’s youngsters.

Damms recently gained the prestigious Level Four coaching qualification and he will be looking to build on last season’s success, when the Academy side won an unprecedented league and cup double.

Moxon explained: “Following Richard Dawson’s departure, I felt it was important to restructure the coaching arm of the club quickly and reward those personnel that have done a fantastic job over recent years.

“I believe that we have one of the best cricket set-ups in the country and it is important for our continued progression as a club, across all aspects of development, that we have some continuity.

“Ian (Dews), Richard (Damms) and Anthony (McGrath) are all first-class in their respective areas. More importantly, they have the best interests of Yorkshire cricket at heart and have been central to our growth over the past few years.”

England’s women beat New Zealand by 90 runs in their second one-day international against New Zealand. Captain Charlotte Edwards led by example, top-scoring with 65 runs out of a total of 194, to level the series aheds of tomorrow’s decider.