FORMER England fast bowler Paul Jarvis is to be the new coach of Minor County side Suffolk.The Minor Counties KO Trophy holders have also signed former Derbyshire batsman Hassan Adnan as their professional for the coming season.

Nick Garnham

FORMER England fast bowler Paul Jarvis is to be the new coach of Minor County side Suffolk.

The Minor Counties KO Trophy holders have also signed former Derbyshire batsman Hassan Adnan as their professional for the coming season.

Jarvis, who played nine Test and 16 one-day internationals in a career that saw him turn out for Yorkshire, Sussex and Somerset, will have a tough act following in the footsteps of Andy Brown, who left the county after seven years at the end of last season to become first-team coach at Derbyshire.

Kevin Brooks, Suffolk's director of cricket, said yesterday: “It was always going to be difficult to find someone to replace Andy Brown, and we have had to consider what was the best way to move forward.

“We didn't want to just bring in someone for the sake of it. It was extremely important to find the right person and in Paul Jarvis we feel we have managed to do that. I am sure his involvement with the county will have a positive impact on the team.

“He has not long been out of the first-class game as a player and he is looking to return in a coaching capacity. From what I understand he narrowly missed out on getting the position as fast bowling coach at Essex, and from conversations I have had with Paul he sees this as a stepping stone into the first-class game.”

Jarvis, who lives in Bath and has been coaching a local club side, already has links to Suffolk.

His wife's parents live in the Woodbridge area and Jarvis actually played a couple of matches for Sudbury in Division One of the Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship two seasons ago.

Adnan, who made his debut for Derbyshire in 2003, was released by the county at the end of last season, and replaces Essex first-team coach Paul Grayson and Surrey's Chris Schofield, who between them played in Suffolk's one-day side last summer, as the county's professional for 2008.

Brooks said: “With neither Paul Grayson nor Chris Schofield being available to us we felt it was important that we identified an experienced player to bolster our batting and we are very fortunate to be able to sign Hassan.

“Last year we decided to go with what we had in terms of our batting largely because we could not find the right person for our championship side.

“By bringing in Hassan not only will he add value to our championship campaign, but he will also prove a worthy replacement to the likes of Paul Grayson and Chris Schofield in our one-day side.

“A lot of players once they get the wrong side of 30 tend to be discarded in terms of playing first-class cricket, but batsmen tend to reach their prime around that age, and clearly from our discussions Hassan feels that this is an opportunity to show he is still capable of playing in the first-class game.”

Suffolk start the first of six pre-season net session on Sunday at Ipswich School in the build-up to their opening friendly fixture against Essex 2nd XI at the same venue on Sunday, April 20.