Yardy’s getting the pads on again

MICHAEL Yardy is back at Hove having been appointed as Sussex’s new batting coach.

Yardy, 36, is a former Sussex captain but retired from playing at the end of the 2015 season. He did spend 2016 coaching the county’s U17 side though.

In his new role, the allrounder will oversee all age groups having had a successful stint as skipper at Hove between 2009 and 2012. He lead the side to the Twenty20 Cup and the Pro40 title in 2009 and promotion from County Championship Division Two in 2010.

Yardy, who was part of the World T20 winning England squad in 2010, said:“Having spent the whole of my playing career at Sussex it was always going to be exciting to come back and help this talented team push forward.

“The time away has allowed me to focus on other areas which I believe will allow me to offer something different to what is already a strong coaching staff.”

Yardy played 28 ODIs and 14 T20s for England between 2006 and 2011, while he scored more than 14,000 runs for Sussex in his 16 years at the club,

Sussex appointed Murray Goodwin as their first dedicated batting coach on a short-term basis last season but the former Zimbabwe international left Hove early in the summer to return to Australia.

And director of cricket at Hove Keith Greenfield is looking forward to welcoming Yardy back.

Greenfield said:“Since Michael returned to the club at the start of last summer with our U17s it has been clear the impact he has had on our young batsmen. At the start of the winter, he worked with our batsmen on the professional staff on a part-time basis and again it has been clear that his skills are making a significant difference to our players.

“To have him now with us full-time in our environment will be fantastic for all of us, and the psychology degree that Michael has studied in his time away from the club is also hugely important when dealing with elite players who need to deliver high quality skill and decision making under extreme pressure.”