England appoint Neil Killeen as men's elite fast bowling coach

The ECB has appointed Neil Killeen as England men's elite fast bowling coach.

Killeen, 47, ends a 30-year association with his home county, Durham, to take the role which has been vacant since November when Jon Lewis was appointed head coach of the England Women's team. From January 18, Killeen will work across the England men's pathway programmes, focusing on developing and preparing the next generation and those next-in-line.

The appointment is in keeping with Killeen's progression with the international set-up during 2022. He was bowling coach on England's ODI tour of the Netherlands at the start of last summer, working alongside newly appointed white-ball coach Matthew Mott, and was in charge of the quicks during the England Lions' training camp in November. That month saw him work with Test regulars James Anderson and Ollie Robinson ahead of the tour to Pakistan, along with Jofra Archer and Saqib Mahmood who were recovering from injury. He has also undertaken secondments with England Under-19s.

Killeen also spent the end of the 2022 season as Durham's stand-in head coach after James Franklin left his contract in September with three rounds of the County Championship before Ryan Campbell was appointed as a full-time replacement. Killeen was understood to be under consideration for the role.

He leaves Chester-le-Street having made more than 350 appearances for the club, winning the Friends Provident Trophy in 2007 and remains Durham's leading wicket-taker in List A cricket. He moved straight into coaching following retirement after the 2010 season, working with the second team before assuming roles as assistant lead and head bowling coach. Killeen is credited with playing a key role in the development of Durham talent, including Test captain Ben Stokes and fellow internationals Mark Wood, Matthew Potts and Brydon Carse.

"I'm delighted to be appointed Elite Pace Bowling Coach with the ECB and can't wait to get started with a new challenge," said Killeen. "It's an exciting time to be joining the ECB, as there is a wealth of fast-bowling talent and coaching around the country that I'm looking forward to working with in order to maintain England's strong contingent of pace bowlers in the future.

"I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone at Durham for the continued support both as a player and a coach over the last 30 years, it has been a great journey. A big thank you also to all the members for their continued support throughout my career. I look forward to returning and watching alongside them in the future. It has been an honour to represent the club and I would like to wish them continued success for the future."