FORMER Warwickshire and Derbyshire all-rounder Graeme Welch has been appointed as the new seam bowling coach at Essex.Welch was chosen out of a strong field of candidates to fill the full-time position and his remit will be to assist all of the county's professional seam bowlers as well as those within the Academy and Development squads.

FORMER Warwickshire and Derbyshire all-rounder Graeme Welch has been appointed as the new seam bowling coach at Essex.

Welch was chosen out of a strong field of candidates to fill the full-time position and his remit will be to assist all of the county's professional seam bowlers as well as those within the Academy and Development squads.

The 35-year-old will be taking up his first coaching job after retiring from playing through injury last June.

Welch's professional career began in 1994, spending seven seasons at Warwickshire before moving on to Derbyshire in 2001.

In total the Durham-born cricketer played 171 first-class matches, taking 477 wickets and scoring 5075 runs.