Paul Farbrace entertained the CCS members with stories and anecdotes from his time as a first class cricket player, coach, media pundit and even a stint as a goalkeeper for Coventry City FC when Bobby Gould was the manager.
Whilst at Kent, Paul was mentored by his wicket keeping hero, Kent and England legend Alan Knott and also realised a childhood ambition of a “caught Farbrace bowled Derek Underwood” appearing on the match scorecard. Knowledgeable and experienced as a coach at County and International level Paul candidly answered questions on the skills and experience that a coach can impart, but also the importance of learning, support and encouragement for players to flourish. Interestingly an approach which is very much evident in the leadership and management styles of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.
Please click on the Gallery link here or in the top menu to view additional photos.
All images courtesy of Pete Wilson.
Pen Portrait
Paul Farbrace was born near Sandwich in Kent in 1967 and had a brief first-class career – representing his home county for three seasons – ending in 1989. He then played for Middlesex for six seasons but his overall first-class batting average of 18.23 (best 79) counted against him and his place was taken in the county team by Keith Brown.
It is as a coach that Paul has achieved more prominence in the game – including many national and county coaching roles. That side of his cricket career began in 2000 with the England Under 19s and Women’s teams. In 2007 he became Assistant Coach to Trevor Bayliss with Sri Lanka and he was on the team bus that was attacked by terrorists in Pakistan in 2009 – mercifully only sustaining minor injuries.
He became first-team coach for Kent in 2009 and after two seasons left to become 2nd XI coach at Yorkshire. Then, in 2013, he became National Coach for Sri Lanka. A busy and successful few months followed – with Tests and ODIs against Pakistan and Bangladesh crowned by success in the Asia Cup and T20 World Cup in 2014.
He then resigned in April 2014 to become Assistant Coach to Peter Moores with England. His period with England would also include being Interim Head Coach, when Moores was sacked, and working with Trevor Bayliss until 2017. This period included the unsuccessful 2015 World Cup and finalists in the T20 World Cup in 2016 – when England were favourites and the West Indies needed 19 to win from the final over. History records that it was bowled by Ben Stokes to Carlos Brathwaite and only needed four balls to reach a conclusion.
Most recently Paul has been Sporting Director at Warwickshire (for four seasons) and is currently Head Coach at Sussex – with a stated mission to develop local talent. He is married to the mother of Ollie Robinson – the English Test bowler.
Chris Coleman