Director of Cricket Paul Farbrace has confirmed his intention to step down from his role at the end of the season.
The 55-year-old, who joined in March 2019, has decided it is time to spend more time with his family in Kent, having lived in Birmingham since arriving.
During his four years at the Club, Farbrace led the Bears to its eighth County Championship and first since 2012, as well improving the player pathway alongside High Performance Manager, Paul Greetham, to make it more representative of all the communities which the Club serves.
In recent months, the Pathway has seen several locally recruited youngsters making the transition to the professional team, including Manraj Johal who made his debut at Lords in the 2021 Bob Willis Trophy and Hamza Shaikh, Amir Khan and George Maddy in the Royal London Cup.
Off the field, Farbrace helped the Club to successfully navigate the impact of COVID as well as the development of Portland Road into one of cricket’s best domestic training grounds and the ongoing investment in the nets and gym/medical facilities at Edgbaston.
The former England coach has offered his help in recruiting a replacement following the campaign.
Stuart Cain, Chief Executive, said: “We knew Paul was one of the best cricketing brains in world cricket when we recruited him, and that’s been demonstrated in the way our elite squad has developed, but his work developing youngsters has also been impressive.
“He’s created a very strong foundation for the future. Much of this is down to the excellent relationships he’s built at recreational clubs and schools across the region, and this is something we shall build on in future.
“Paul will stay with us for the completion of the season as we focus on the coming County Championship fixtures and help us with the early stages of recruiting his replacement.
“We have appointed a specialist recruiter to help find a candidate with the skills to keep pushing us forward and will announce more on this in due course, but today is about celebrating Paul’s achievements during his time with Warwickshire.”
Farbrace said: “It’s been a great four years and I would have stayed longer, but with my family in Kent, it’s time for me to focus on them and look at other opportunities.
“It’s been a great privilege to work at Edgbaston, for Warwickshire County Cricket Club, and with some incredibly dedicated and driven people, who really do make it such a very special place.”
