Greg Smith: South African named new Northamptonshire batting coach

Greg Smith played his final game for Essex against Lancashire in 2015

Northamptonshire have appointed former all-rounder Greg Smith as their new batting coach.

He replaces namesake Ben Smith, who left by mutual agreement in October.

South African Smith scored more than 9,400 runs and took 298 wickets during his playing career, which included spells with Derbyshire and Essex.

"He's already done a lot of work on our batters so he's able to hit the ground running in January," said Northants head coach John Sadler.

They will begin the new season with a County Championship game against Sussex at Hove, starting on 5 April.