Farbrace leaves Sussex for Lancashire director role — SkimNews
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- Lancashire appointed Paul Farbrace as their new director of cricket, replacing Mark Chilton who left Old Trafford last month after five years; Farbrace will also oversee the women's team.
- Farbrace, 59, was due to switch from Sussex head coach to a part-time director of cricket role at Hove from November, but has instead left after four years at Sussex, with Matt Walker already named as his successor as head coach.
- Lancashire finished seventh in Division Two of the County Championship — the lowest position in the club's history — and have won just 11 of 56 Championship matches since 2023, including relegation in 2024 and a run of nine losses in 10 matches between May and September this year.
- Sussex finished third in Division One under Farbrace despite a 12-point starting penalty linked to the club's financial problems, having been promoted from Division Two in 2024 during his tenure.
- Richard Kenyon made Farbrace his first significant appointment as Lancashire's new chief executive, arriving as Kenyon leads a promised review of the cricket operation at Emirates Old Trafford, where the club last won a major trophy — the 2015 T20 Blast — 11 years ago.
- Sussex now face ECB-imposed financial controls with bowler Henry Crocombe and wicketkeeper John Simpson already departed and other out-of-contract players potentially following, prompting BBC Radio Sussex's Adrian Harms to call Farbrace's exit 'a hammer blow'.
- Farbrace thanked the club for the 'honour' of being head coach, saying he was 'grateful to Sussex' after a four-year spell that took the side from the bottom of Division Two back into Division One contention.
Why it matters: Sussex have lost the architect of their Division One resurgence just as ECB financial controls and player departures — undercuts to Farbrace's own achievements — already threaten their playing squad, with BBC Radio Sussex's Adrian Harms warning his exit is 'a hammer blow'. For Lancashire, Farbrace is new chief executive Richard Kenyon's first major hire as he attempts to fix a club languishing at its lowest-ever Championship finish.
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