SACA CO-FOUNDER KABIR ALI JOINS LANCASHIRE AS MEN’S LEAD BOWLING COACH

SACA is delighted to confirm that Kabir Ali, who co-founded SACA with Tom Brown back in 2022, has today been announced as Lancashire Cricket’s Men’s Lead Bowling Coach.

Since playing a key role in establishing SACA with Brown over four years ago and helping the Academy lay the early foundations for the success it is seeing today, Ali has carved out a successful coaching career across both the county game and at several global franchise competitions, coaching in both the Men’s and Women’s game.

As a domestic player, he had a distinguished career as a right-arm fast bowler, playing in 137 First-Class matches, in which he took 500 wickets including 23 five-wicket hauls and four ten-wicket matches. In white-ball cricket he claimed a further 343 wickets – 261 in the List-A format of the game and 82 in T20s.

On the international front he made 15 appearances for England - 14 in ODI’s and one in Test cricket between 2003 and 2006.

On taking up his new role at Lancashire, Ali makes a return to Emirates Old Trafford, having spent two successful years at the county as a player before retiring in 2014.

Speaking after his appointment as Men’s Lead Bowling Coach at Lancashire, Kabir Ali said:

“I’m incredibly excited to be back at Lancashire in this new role. This is a Club with proud history and traditions, and I’m looking forward to working with the whole professional squad.

“It’s a great challenge to help shape our bowling group, and equally important to support the development of the next generation of fast bowlers coming through our pathway.

“I would like to thank Mark Chilton for the opportunity, and I am looking forward to working alongside Steven Croft, his coaching staff and a very talented group of players here at Emirates Old Trafford.”

Tom Brown, Founder and Managing Director of SACA, commented:

“All of us at SACA offer our heartfelt congratulations to Kabby on securing this well-deserved opportunity with Lancashire.

“The role he played in helping to establish SACA in those early days cannot be underestimated, and those building blocks that we put in place at the very beginning have been instrumental in shaping how the Academy has evolved over the years.

“I would personally like to thank Kabby for all he contributed to SACA, and on behalf of all of us at the Academy, we wish him every success in his new role.”