McGrath takes Yorkshire coaching role

Yorkshire have restructured their coaching department, with former captain Anthony McGrath taking on the role of coaching consultant across all teams. Ian Dews, the current director of cricket development, is to take charge of the 2nd XI after Richard Dawson's departure for Gloucestershire, and Richard Damms has been promoted to Academy head coach.

McGrath, who retired in 2013, scored more than 14,000 runs for Yorkshire over a 17-year career, which also saw him capped by England in four Tests and 14 ODIs. Last season, during which Yorkshire won the Championship for the first time in 13 years, McGrath worked as a player mentor at the club.

Dews has been a part of Yorkshire's set-up since 1996 and will continue in his development role. Damms, who recently qualified as a Level Four ECB coach, has worked alongside Dews in recent years and will now look after the Academy side, which last season won the league and cup double in the Yorkshire Premier League.

"Following Richard's departure, I felt it was important to restructure the coaching arm of the club quickly and reward those personnel that have done a fantastic job over recent years," Yorkshire's director of cricket, Martyn Moxon, said. "I believe that we have one the of best cricket set-ups in the country and it is important for our continued progression as a club, across all aspects of development, that we have some continuity.

"Ian, Richard and Anthony are all first-class in their respective areas. More importantly, they have the best interests of Yorkshire cricket and have been central to our growth over the past few years."

Dawson's departure was the second in little more than a year, after his predecessor with the second team, Paul Farbrace, left for Sri Lanka and, subsequently, England. Yorkshire announced last week that they would allow head coach Jason Gillespie to discuss opportunities in the Big Bash League, to ward off attempts to lure him away permanently after a highly successful three years.