FORMER St Lawrence and Highland Court all-rounder Phil Relf has been named as the man to succeed Paul Farbrace as Kent’s new academy director.

The ex-Simon Langton School pupil from Canterbury brings a wealth of local cricketing knowledge to the role that he takes on from October 15, now that Farbrace has moved on to become assistant coach to the Sri Lanka national squad.

A National Coach Development Manager with the ECB, 36-year-old Relf has spent considerable time with Kent cricket through his involvement with county age group cricket.

He said: “It was the quality of the people involved at Kent that made me want to get involved.

“I’ve worked with ‘Farbie’ at the academy and in his consultancy role to the ECB, and I know a lot of the lads at the academy my work as manager of the ECB’s southern age group side, so I know there are an exciting and talented bunch of lads to work with.

“I spoke to ‘Farbie’ at length about the position and was hugely impressed with Rob Key and Graham Ford going through the interview process, so I’m hugely excited about getting involved and having a more hands on role in terms of coaching.”

Commenting on the appointment, Ford, Kent’s director of cricket, said: “I am delighted that Phil will be joining us. He has a detailed knowledge of cricket in Kent and extensive coaching experience.

"We are confident he will carry this forward in getting the best out of the talent available in our academy.”