Alex Gidman appointed as England women's team assistant coach

London [UK], October 31 (ANI): Alex Gidman has been appointed as England women's team assistant coach, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced on Tuesday.
"The previous Worcestershire Men's Head Coach and Kent Men's Assistant Coach joins the England Women's coaching staff. Alex Gidman has been appointed as England Women's assistant coach. The 42-year-old arrives from Kent where he was men's batting coach and joins the England Women's coaching team," ECB said in a statement.
A respected figure in the men's game, Gidman previously spent four years as head coach at Worcestershire County Cricket Club and led to T20 Blast Finals Day in 2019 and was head coach of the white ball team when the New Road outfit lifted the title the year before.
Gidman enjoyed a 15-year playing career at both Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, making over 500 professional appearances where he captained the latter for five years.
The appointment of Gidman means Jon Lewis as head coach is now supported by three permanent assistant coaches with Gareth Breese and Matt Mason making up the trio. Michael Bates continues as fielding and wicket-keeping performance coach working across England Women and pathway programmes while former Durham head coach Jon Lewis joins the ECB on a permanent basis as performance batting coach and will be joined by a performance pace bowling coach in due course.
"Alex joins us at a very exciting time as we start to prepare for what will be the busiest 15 months of women's international cricket. To be able to bring in someone of Alex's experience is fantastic news and will only add to the support we can provide to players to continuously move the team forward," Director of England Women's Cricket Jonathan Finch said in a statement.
England's Tour of India will culminate with a four-day Test scheduled from December 14 to 17 at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
"I would also like to thank Kent CCC in allowing Alex to make the move to his new role so quickly and support our preparation for the upcoming tour to India," he added.
"The performance coach roles will ensure we can provide more consistent coaching and leadership to our England Women A and England Women U19s programmes as we look to develop a group of players ready to perform for England Women moving forward. Having these roles will enable us to grow the opportunities to those players looking to make the transition into the England Women squads across all formats," Finch added.
Talking about his appointment, Gidman said, "I am delighted to join the England Women's coaching team. There is a great blend of experienced and young players within the squad and I can't wait to get started and add value over the next few years during what is an exciting period for the women's game."
"I'd also like to say a huge thank you to Kent. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time there and wish them all the best for the future," he added. (ANI)