The only player to be named player of the match in two T20 Blast finals, Josh Cobb, has left professional cricket to take on a new position at Warwickshire as the head of the boys’ academy.
Cobb, 34, began his professional career in 2007 with Leicestershire and has since represented Northamptonshire and Worcestershire, two more Midlands counties, in 448 games. In addition, he captained Welsh Fire in the Hundred and won the Bangladesh Premier League with the Dhaka Gladiators in 2013.
Cobb, a strong top-order batsman, took 4 for 22 in a Blast final to win his first match award for his bowling, helping Leicestershire defeat Somerset to win the 2011 title. Five years later, at Edgbaston, the stadium he will now call home in his new position, Northamptonshire defeated Durham to win their second T20 championship thanks to his innings of 80 off 48 balls.
Due to his relationship with his former Leicestershire teammate Andrew McDonald, Cobb was able to work with Australia’s players as a consultant coach for two weeks during their ODI series in England last September. He is going into coaching like his father Russell, who oversees the UCCE setup at Loughborough University.
Dan Mousley and Jacob Bethell are recent Warwickshire Academy grads. “My challenge is to keep developing homegrown players that can go on to play for the Bears and England,” Cobb stated. “I’m excited at the chance to lead an academy at such a great club like Warwickshire, one that’s had a lot of success over a number of years.”
