ESSEX Cricket Club have appointed former England and Yorkshire batsman Anthony McGrath as their new assistant head coach.

McGrath, who spent the entirety of his first-class career with Yorkshire, was selected as Chris Silverwood’s number two ahead of what Essex said were "a number of excellent candidates".

McGrath made 583 appearances across all three formats during a 17-year career at Yorkshire, scoring 14, 698 runs, and also appeared four times for England, hitting 81 against Zimbabwe back in 2003.

The new appointment has proven himself at the highest level of county cricket as a coach as well, working as player mentor at Yorkshire since 2014 and taking on extra responsibility last season when Yorkshire wrapped up back-to-back County Championship titles.

And head coach Chris Silverwood said he was delighted McGrath had joined the coaching staff.

“I’ve known Anthony for a very long time, and he is a great addition to our staff,” said Silverwood.

“He has excellent cricket knowledge, and during his interview it was clear he had a real passion for this job. He is a very good coach, and will help our batsmen improve their game.

“He has experience of working with some of the best batsmen in the country – names such as (Jonny) Bairstow, (Joe) Root, (Gary) Ballance, (Adam) Lyth – so his experience will be invaluable to our players.

“We have a strong batting line up, and I am confident Anthony will complement it perfectly.”