England Women bring in Matt Mason as fast bowling coach

Mason leaves Warwickshire to replace Tim Macdonald in the role after the Australian returned home over the summer

Matt Mason has been appointed as England Women's new fast bowling coach.

Mason, who only took over from Graeme Welch in the same role at Warwickshire ahead of the 2022 season, will fill the void left by Tim Macdonald, who returned to Australia during the summer to take up a bowling coach post with Western Australia.

That job has previously been filled by Mason, who played a part in the development of several Australia bowlers in the men's game, including Cameron Green and Jhye Richardson.

Prior to taking the Warwickshire job in February, Mason had been in Australia since 2019, having previously worked on the coaching staff at Leicestershire and Worcestershire. He won the Australian One-Day Cup with Western Australia in 2020 after spending the vast majority of his playing days with Worcestershire.

"There are only a handful of jobs I would have left Warwickshire for this is one of them," said Mason. "I had no intention of leaving the club, I loved my time there, but when this opportunity came up I felt I had to take it.

"I've never coached at international level before, it's an exciting prospect and I don’t know if such a chance would ever arise again in the future. I'm looking forward to meeting the group, getting to know everyone and hopefully helping drive the team forward to on-field success."

^{Mason spent much of his career at Worcestershire (Stu Forster/Getty Images)}

Macdonald was an early appointment by former England head coach Lisa Keightley, initially taking on the bowling coach job on an interim basis during the T20 World Cup at the start of 2020, before being appointed permanently in August of that year.

Over the next two years, he was heavily involved in the development of young seamers such as Issy Wong and Lauren Bell, both of whom have become regular members of England's squads across all formats since their international debuts, which came after Anya Shrubsole's retirement left an opening. Freya Kemp also won her first cap this summer, while Freya Davies and Kate Cross took the new ball in the final ODI of the season.

England are also searching for a new head coach following Keightley's decision not to look to extend her contract. Her final game in charge was the defeat by India at Lord's.

Jonathan Finch, director of England Women's cricket, added: "We're in the process of recruiting a head coach and Matt will be a valued part of that person's coaching staff, bringing great expertise and experience in the field of fast bowling."