Neil Killeen has been named England’s men’s elite fast bowling coach by the ECB.
Killeen, 47, leaves his home county of Durham after a 30-year association to take the position that has been vacant since November when Jon Lewis was appointed head coach of the England Women’s team.
Killeen will begin working across the England men’s pathway programmes on January 18, with a focus on developing and preparing the next generation and those in line.
Killeen’s appointment is in line with his progression with the international team in 2022. He was the bowling coach on England’s one-day international tour of the Netherlands at the start of last summer, working alongside newly appointed white-ball coach Matthew Mott, and was in charge of the quicks during the England Lions’ training camp in November.
That month, he worked with Test regulars James Anderson and Ollie Robinson ahead of the Pakistan tour, as well as Jofra Archer and Saqib Mahmood, who were both recovering from injuries. He has also spent time on loan with England Under-19s.
Killeen also served as Durham’s stand-in head coach at the end of the 2022 season after James Franklin left his contract in September with three rounds of the County Championship remaining before Ryan Campbell was appointed as a full-time replacement. Killeen was rumoured to be in the running for the role.
He leaves Chester-le-Street having played more than 350 times for the team, taking home the Friends Provident Trophy in 2007, and continuing to lead Durham in List A wickets.
After retiring at the end of the 2010 season, he immediately began coaching, first working with the second team before moving up to assistant lead and head bowling coach positions.
Ben Stokes, the Test captain, as well as Mark Wood, Matthew Potts, and Brydon Carse, as well as other international players, are all credited with having developed their careers at Durham thanks in large part to Killeen.
“I’m delighted to be appointed Elite Pace Bowling Coach with the ECB and can’t wait to get started with a new challenge,”
said Killeen.
“It’s an exciting time to be joining the ECB, as there is a wealth of fast-bowling talent and coaching around the country that I’m looking forward to working with in order to maintain England’s strong contingent of pace bowlers in the future.
“I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone at Durham for the continued support both as a player and a coach over the last 30 years, it has been a great journey. A big thank you also to all the members for their continued support throughout my career. I look forward to returning and watching alongside them in the future. It has been an honor to represent the club and I would like to wish them continued success for the future.”