Cricket Ireland ropes in Radford as National Academy and Performance Manager

Cricket Ireland has appointed former Middlesex and Sussex batsman Toby Radford to the post of National Academy and Performance Manager. Radford, 44, brings with him both international and domestic coaching experience, including roles with West Indies and England Lions.

Radford said that he was looking forward to his new role with Ireland, who are seeking to attain Full Member status.

"Ireland has forged a strong and well-established reputation for producing high quality young cricketers, and its national team has performed with great distinction on the international stage over the past decade," Radford said.

"I have always been passionate about unearthing and coaching young talent and the opportunity to do so with Cricket Ireland, as it seeks to obtain full Test Match playing status, is hugely motivating."

Radford, who will start his new role on August 1, will work in coordination with Ireland head coach John Bracewell and Performance director Richard Holdsworth.

"We are very pleased to secure the services of Toby. We see him as an integral part of overseeing the development of our most talented young players and those on the fringes of the national team over the coming years," Holdsworth said.

"We are now looking to develop our talent into world-class players who are capable of performing against the best in the world in all three formats. Toby's experience of coaching at international and first-class levels will bring great understanding of what it takes to perform at the highest level.

"He also has a wealth of knowledge and experience in coach development at the highest level, an area very important to us as we aim to develop more home-based coaches at elite levels."

After playing 14 first-class and six List A games between 1993 and 1999, Radford served as Middlesex's interim coach when Richard Pybus quit midway through 2007. He was then handed a full-time role in 2008 during which time Middlesex clinched the T20 Cup. In 2010, Radford left England and moved to the Caribbean as director of the High Performance Centre in Barbados, and was West Indies' assistant coach when they won the World Twenty20 title in 2012. He then moved to coach Glamorgan for two seasons.

Cricket Ireland had previously appointed former England batsman Chris Adams to the position of National Academy and Performance Manager in May, only for Adams to withdraw from the role two days later, due to family reasons.