Norfolk cricket stalwart leaving county for Cricket Ireland

Brown spun his way to more than 500 wickets for Norfolk

After more than 20 years with Norfolk as a player and coach, Chris Brown is leaving the county side to work full-time for Cricket Ireland.

The 49-year-old is joining the international set-up as the new high performance spin bowling coach.

"I'm very sad to leave this beautiful area, but I'm very excited about my new role with Cricket Ireland," Brown said.

"It's been an ambition of mine to work full-time with a test-playing nation and it just so happens to be Ireland."

The former Lancashire County Cricket Club professional joined Norfolk in 2001 and went on to play 100 Minor Counties Cricket Championship matches in 17 years.

During that time he took more than 500 wickets and scored in excess of 2,000 runs for the county.

Brown captained Norfolk before becoming team coach

After playing, Brown continued his work with the Norfolk Cricket Board in a number of roles including emerging players programme head coach, performance manager and pathway lead.

"When I finished playing and stood down as captain, I thought it was important to try and develop the next generation of Norfolk cricketer for the foreseeable future," he said.

His CV also includes roles with England Lions, Cricket Scotland and as spin consultant for Zimbabwe's national team.

"I've been fortunate enough to work in international cricket with Zimbabwe and Cricket Scotland and that really gave me a thirst to work full-time in the International arena. It's all happened really quickly," he said.

"I'll be looking after the national spinners and getting them ready for international cricket.

"The schedule next year includes trips to Pakistan, Dubai and the T20 World Cup in June. There's quite a lot of test matches as well as some one-day cricket and T20."d.

Brown is due to start his new role on 2 January 2024, however, will work with the Irish set-up during December on a consultancy basis.