Paul Farbrace targets Hundred coaching role after moving on from Warwickshire

Paul Farbrace has declared his interest in a role in the Hundred next year, after leaving his position as Warwickshire's director of cricket at the end of the 2022 county season.

Farbrace turned down a job offer during the initial recruitment phase for Hundred coaches in 2019 in order to join Warwickshire after four years working with Trevor Bayliss as England's assistant coach, and said he would be interested in a role in the tournament if an opportunity presents itself.

Head coaches in the Hundred are appointed on rolling one-year contracts and while most incumbents are expected to stay put for the tournament's third season in 2023, Gary Kirsten appears unlikely to return after Welsh Fire's winless campaign.

Farbrace left his role at Edgbaston in order to spend more time with his family, who live in Kent, but is due to spend two of the next four months in the UAE, coaching Team Abu Dhabi in the Abu Dhabi T10 after taking the role on last year, before returning in January as head coach of Sharjah Warriors in the inaugural ILT20.

"Before I took the job at Warwickshire, I was offered the head coach role at one of the Hundred teams when I came back from [England's tour to] the West Indies," Farbrace told ESPNcricinfo. "But I turned it down at the last minute because the Warwickshire role had come up.

"I definitely would be interested, if things go well at these two franchises and an opportunity comes up in the Hundred. If I get a chance next year, that could be a nice way to go. As much as I love county cricket, the Hundred is a great tournament."

Farbrace hopes to use the winter to see whether he can take his skills as a coach from county and international cricket into the franchise world, and is approaching the challenge with an open mind. "For the first time in my life, I've actually given myself a bit of a breather," Farbrace said. "The only time I've ever been in this position is when I got the sack at Kent 11 years ago.

"I don't know yet whether franchise cricket is for me or not but I've got these two opportunities and it gives me a chance to see what I want to do. Warwickshire was a 12-months-of-the-year job and after four years living in Birmingham with my wife living in Kent, it was probably the right time. With franchise cricket, you can do a month away and then a month at home."

Team Abu Dhabi finished third under Farbrace last season and he has signed Chris Lynn, Alex Hales and Adil Rashid for 2022 in a bid to win the title for the first time. "It was a real eye-opener for me last year," Farbrace said. "I went in thinking it was going to be brutal for the bowlers but actually, it's just as tough for the batters because you're expected to line up world-class bowlers and hit them out the park.

"We've learned from last year in how we've set our squad up: we took the second-most wickets and thought that would slow runs rates down at the end but didn't quite manage that, and that cost us, so we've got a little bit more variation in our attack this time round. It's a brilliant environment to be around with world-class players in every team."