Warwickshire part company with first team coach Jim Troughton

His departure comes following a review of the 2020 campaign, which saw his side go winless in the Bob Willis Trophy, before missing out on the T20 Blast knockout stages

Warwickshire have parted company with first team coach Jim Troughton, bringing to an end an association that has spanned three decades.

Troughton, who represented the club’s age-group sides as an 11-year-old, played six ODIs for England in 2003 and captained Warwickshire to the County Championship title in 2012. He had been in charge of the first team since 2017.

However, his departure comes following a review of the 2020 campaign, which saw his side go winless in the Bob Willis Trophy, before missing out on the T20 Blast knockout stages.

Under Troughton, Warwickshire won County Championship promotion in 2018 – a year after suffering relegation, while reaching the Blast final in 2017.

Yet, his tenure also saw several senior players move on, including Keith Barker and Varun Chopra, while high-quality stalwarts Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Tim Ambrose and Jeetan Patel have all retired, meaning that whoever replaces Troughton will have a significant rebuilding job on their hands, even if progress has been made in recent years on regenerating the playing squad with younger signings.

Left-arm spinner Danny Briggs joined the club at the start of the month from Sussex. He was also heavily hindered in 2019 by a spate of injuries to fast bowlers, with Ryan Sidebottom, Liam Norwell, Olly Stone, Henry Brookes and George Panayi all suffering injuries.

“Jim has been an excellent servant to the club as a trophy-winning coach and player who captained the Bears to the County Championship in 2012,” said Warwickshire chief executive Stuart Cain.

“He will be missed by all at the club, but we wish him well and hope that his achievements will be remembered by all who have played and worked alongside him as well as those who have watched him over the years. He will always be part of the family and welcome at Edgbaston any time.”

^{Troughton captained Warwickshire to the County Championship title in 2012}

Sport director Paul Farbrace, who led the review, will oversee winter training alongside Troughton’s backroom staff, consisting of bowling coach Graeme Welch, batting coach Tony Frost and second team coach Ian Westwood, all three of whom have significant connections to Troughton, having played for Warwickshire.

Troughton added: “It is with great sadness that I will be leaving the club I’ve loved since the age of 11. When taking the role of first team coach in 2017, I was under no illusion that transitioning an extremely experienced and successful squad of players, putting faith in our development system as well as competing in all forms of cricket was going to be a challenging but ultimately rewarding task.

“T20 runners up in 2017 followed by immediate promotion back to Division One in 2018 showed encouraging signs and I was confident of the progress we were making. The last two seasons have been extremely frustrating.  An injury-hit 2019 and a Covid-hit 2020 have most definitely affected the consistency on the park and our ability to move forward with results.

“Creating two England players and two England pathway players, as well as seeing the emergence of a promising number of academy graduates shows we now have a young and exciting squad taking shape and I have no doubt they will, in time, produce a consistent level of success in the years to come. I’m just sad I’m no longer part of that vision moving forward.

“I cannot thank the players and my management team enough for their efforts and support over the last four years. They are a credit to the badge, and I hope they continue the important work of driving forwards performance and development and build on the important culture of this fantastic club.

“I’d also like to thank the members for their support over my 20 years affiliated with Warwickshire CCC. You will always have a place in my heart.”

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