Key role at Lord's for former Yorkshire star Steve Kirby

Kirby, 38, has played for the MCC in four pre-season champion county matches and toured Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Argentina with the famous club.

He will succeed another former Gloucestershire player in Mark Alleyne in the role and said: “Words can’t describe how excited I am to be taking on such a prestigious role and I can’t wait to get started.

“Mark Alleyne did a tremendous job over the previous seven years and they are very big boots to fill.

“Lord’s has always been a special place for me and I’m truly thankful and honoured to be given this opportunity with MCC.”

Kirby’s duties include leading the MCC Young Cricketers team in the Second XI Championship, which has helped develop Test cricketers for several nations including England’s Alex Hales, the West Indies’ Darren Sammy and New Zealand’s Ross Taylor.

MCC head of cricket John Stephenson said: “In a competitive field, Steve’s passion for the role and for MCC shone through and this was a key reason why we decided to appoint him.

“He has energy, drive and commitment in spades and his ambition to drive forward all the club’s coaching structures was clear throughout the interview process.

“With a successful playing career and impressive coaching credentials, we feel we have, in Steve, someone who is going to really inspire young cricketers of all ages either to take up the game or to take their game to the next level.”

Kirby took 572 wickets at an average of 28.74 in a 13-year first-class career, despite being released by Leicestershire as a teenager due to a back problem. He added 225 wickets in limited-overs cricket.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfraz Ahmed has replaced Shahid Afridi as Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain.

Afridi relinquished the role after his side’s disappointing performance at the World Twenty20. Pakistan continue their search for a new coach following Waqar Younis’s resignation.