England interested in the services of Graeme Welch as bowling coach

With the departure of England’s former bowling coach Ottis Gibson as Head Coach of the South African team, there lies a huge void to fill in the English camp. England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is now looking at the name of Graeme Welch to replace the West Indian in the support staff.

The name of former New Zealand Express bowler Shane Bond came into the reckoning for a part time contract looking at the upcoming Ashes series. The management was willing to take its time to confirm on a more permanent personnel. According to reports, former English fast bowler Darren Gough was among the top favourites for the said role.

Putting all speculations to rest, Graeme Welch and Chris Silverwood have emerged as favourites after being asked to work with ODI squad for the upcoming series against West Indies. Welch is currently working with the Leicestershire as a bowling coach. He would be working with the side in the lead up to the fourth ODI at The Oval. While Silverwood has been given permission by Essex to work with England during the third ODI in Bristol.

Welch tagged the opportunity as the “pinnacle of his profession”

The Chief executive of Leicestershire, Wasim Khan, has agreed to release Welch from his county obligations for a couple of days. “This is a great opportunity for Graeme. He is proving an excellent coach and we wouldn’t want to stand in his way,” affirmed Wasim according to ESPN Cricinfo.

Graeme Welch tagged the opportunity as the “pinnacle of his profession”, confirming that he was not going to apply for the role of head coach at Leicestershire, which has remained post departure of Pierre de Bruyn citing that he was more suitable as a bowling coach in the County.

The post of the bowling coach in the England has remained vacant post the departure of Ottis Gibson, who was appointed as the Head Coach of the South African national team.