Former Steelbacks skipper Josh Cobb retires from playing to take up coaching role
Former Northants Steelbacks skipper Josh Cobb has retired from playing professional cricket to take up the top job at the boys' academy at Warwickshire.
Cobb, who is 34, played for Northants for more than eight seasons after joining in 2015, before leaving the club midway through the 2023 camaign.
The off-spinning all-rounder helped the Steelbacks to two T20 Finals, and was the man of the match as the County won the tournament in 2016, seeing off Durham Jets in the final.
Cobb was named the club's white ball skipper in 2020, but controversially lost that role on the eve of the 2023 season following the arrival of David Willey from Yorkshire.
After his departure from Northants, Cobb played 12 times in the Vitality Blast for Worcestershire Rapids last season, but has now decided it is time to walk away from playing and begin what he will hope will be a long coaching career.
And he is delighted to have been handed such a big chance at Warwickshire.
“My challenge is to keep developing homegrown players that can go on to play for the Bears and England,” said Cobb, who cored more than 13,000 runs in a playing career that spanned 17 years.
“To help the club’s young talent realise their dreams of playing out there in the middle at Edgbaston, not just for a few games but to represent Warwickshire 100-plus times.
“I’m fresh out of the game. I’ve done the transition myself from academy into the professional game, hopefully I can be a mentor for the lads and have a good view on what’s required to make it professionally.
“The facilities for the academy here, the Indoor School, is excellent, one of the best in the country, so there is no better breeding ground for young talent.
“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.”
Warwickshire head of athlete performance Paul Greetham said: “Josh is hugely experienced and is a leader with plenty of captaincy experience.
“He has developed his coaching and mentoring skills over recent years and his knowledge and skills will be of great benefit for our academy prospects.
“Josh’s appointment is a major coup for the Bears. He has a reputation as one of the sharpest cricket brains on the domestic circuit.
"We know he will be passing on his current and insightful views on the game to the boys on our pathway.”