Alex Gidman joins England Women as assistant coach

Alex Gidman has been appointed as England Women's assistant coach, after moving on from his batting-coach role at Kent.

Gidman, the former Gloucestershire batter who went on to coach Worcestershire to the 2019 T20 Blast title, will be working under his former county team-mate Jon Lewis, England Women's head coach, whom he succeeded as Gloucestershire's captain back in 2009.

His appointment means that Lewis will now be supported by three permanent assistant coaches, with Gareth Breese and Matt Mason making up the trio. Gidman's first involvement will be for the tour of India in December, where the team are due to play three T20Is and a one-off Test in Navi Mumbai.

"Alex joins us at a very exciting time as we start to prepare for what will be the busiest 15 months of women's international cricket," Jonathan Finch, the director of England Women's Cricket, said. "To be able to bring in someone of Alex's experience is fantastic news and will only add to the support we can provide to players to continuously move the team forward.

"I would also like to thank Kent CCC in allowing Alex to make the move to his new role so quickly and support our preparation for the upcoming tour to India."

Gidman added: "I am delighted to join the England Women's coaching team.

"There is a great blend of experienced and young players within the squad and I can't wait to get started and add value over the next few years during what is an exciting period for the women's game.

"I'd also like to say a huge thank you to Kent. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time there and wish them all the best for the future."

An England A squad will also tour India this winter, and in preparation for that, another Jon Lewis - JJB Lewis, the former Durham head coach - has joined the ECB on a permanent basis as performance batting coach. A performance pace bowling coach will be appointed in due course.

"The performance coach roles will ensure we can provide more consistent coaching and leadership to our England Women A and England Women U19s programmes as we look to develop a group of players ready to perform for England Women moving forward," Finch added.

"Having these roles will enable us to grow the opportunities to those players looking to make the transition into the England Women squads across all formats."