Mark Ramprakash has batting consultancy with Middlesex extended

Mark Ramprakash will work alongside Middlesex's batters this summer after the club extended his consultancy.

Ramprakash, who began his playing career at Middlesex before moving south of the river to Surrey, was England's batting coach between 2014 and 2019. He subsequently took up a role a director of cricket at Harrow, which he has combined with media work, before being brought in by Middlesex over the winter.

"Since Ramps joined us at the start of our winter training programme, the impact he's had has been incredible," Middlesex's head of men's performance cricket, Alan Coleman, said. "He has brought an energy to our sessions that not only engages the players but constantly challenges them to improve.

"I share Ramps' view that you don't want to waste a single session and that getting in the nets isn't simply about hitting balls. He raises the intensity, puts the players under pressure in scenario-based sessions, where every ball counts and every shot matters.

"He has engaged the group, who are showing plenty of signs of responding well to his methods, and in Ramps we have a coach that completely gets what we're trying to achieve as a playing group and coaching team and cares deeply about the club.

"I'm thrilled that he has committed himself to the group for the rest of this season, and I can't wait to see what we can collectively achieve with him as an important part of the coaching unit."

Ramprakash scored more than 35,000 first-class runs in his career, including 114 centuries, although he was viewed as an unfulfilled talent after averaging 27.32 across 52 Tests for England.

He spent a period as Middlesex's batting coach after retiring from playing in 2012, and returns with the club seeking to improve fortunes after a difficult 2021 that saw Angus Fraser, the long-serving director of cricket, moved sideways into a new role and Stuart Law sacked as head coach. Coleman now heads a new coaching structure, with Richard Johnson - a former Middlesex team-mate of Ramprakash - appointed as first-team coach last month.

In particular, Ramprakash will look to raise batting standards among a top order that has struggled to regularly post big scores in Championship cricket, with Middlesex losing eight out of 14 red-ball fixtures last season.