Cricket
ESPNcricinfo staff 5y

Richard Johnson joins Surrey as assistant coach

Cricket

Richard Johnson, the former Middlesex and England seamer, has transferred his allegiance south of the river, after signing a three-year deal to become the new assistant coach at Surrey.

Johnson had been part of Middlesex's coaching set-up since 2011, a spell that included their County Championship triumph in 2016, and even stood in as interim coach this season after Richard Scott was sacked in July.

However, having missed out on the permanent role at Lord's - a job that instead went to the former Australia batsman, Stuart Law - Johnson has decided the time is ripe to switch to London's other major county.

There, he will take over the bowling duties from Ryan Sidebottom and Alfonso Thomas, who had been working with the club on a consultancy basis in 2018, although Geoff Arnold will be retained in his own coaching role.

"Surrey are one of the biggest clubs in the country and proved their strength by winning the County Championship this year," said Johnson.

"This is an excellent chance to be part of something exciting moving forward with a high quality group of players both senior and younger.

"There are plenty of people already at the club that I know well and I can't wait to get in to the Kia Oval to start work later this month."

Director of Cricket Alec Stewart added: "First of all, I would like to thank both Ryan Sidebottom and Alfonso Thomas for their excellent work with us last season. When I spoke with them they both understood our need for a full-time bowling coach.

"I've known Jono for a long time, having played Test cricket with him, and he has shown himself to be one of the very best bowling coaches in the game. I'm looking forward to seeing his expertise and qualities have a positive impact on our bowling group."

Johnson, 43, retired from the first-class game in 2007 after a career that included three Test matches, ten ODIs and 528 first-class wickets at an average of 28.58, including ten wickets in a single innings against Derbyshire in 1994.

His credentials as a bowling coach have been enhanced by the development of talents such as Steven Finn, Toby Roland-Jones and Tom Helm, and he has also worked with the England Lions on recent overseas tours.

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