MCC has appointed Ajmal Shahzad to the position of Head Coach at the Club

Shahzad, who played for England in all international formats of the game as well as representing several first-class counties, returns to MCC having worked at Lord’s between 2019 and 2021, before leaving to become Assistant Coach (Bowling Lead) at Derbyshire CCC.

After almost five years at Derbyshire working as a key part of their coaching setup, Shahzad has returned to Lord’s to take up the position of Head Coach, a role which will lead and develop a coaching team to deliver best-in-class coaching experiences across all levels of the game, from participation programmes through to elite performance environments.

The former Yorkshire, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire and Sussex seamer turned to the coaching side of the game in 2017 when he ended his professional playing career.

He will provide strategic and operational leadership for all MCC coaching activity delivered from the newly refurbished and rebranded Lord’s Performance Centre, in alignment with the Club’s overarching Cricket Strategy, due to launch in early February.

Shahzad said: “I’m thrilled to be back at Lord’s and working with our talented group of coaches. I hope that with my experience in the professional game, both as a player and a coach, will be of benefit and I am looking forward to helping both them and MCC make a difference across all levels of the game.

Ricky Reynolds, Head of Programmes at MCC, said: “We are delighted to welcome Ajmal back to MCC. As an experienced coach, coming from a background of having played the game at the highest level, he will be able to develop an elite coaching framework that supports player development.

“With the recent rebranding of the Lord’s Performance Centre, we are seeking to ensure it is established as a world-leading hub for coaching, innovation and coach development, and this role will be central to that aim.”