ECB appoint Ed Barney as new performance director

On Wednesday, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) appointed Ed Barney as their new performance director following his work in a similar role in field hockey. Barney will replace Mo Bobat, who has left the ECB to become director of cricket with Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League.

The 41-year-old previously worked in talent identification at the ECB from 2010-13 and has spent the last seven years with England and Great Britain Hockey. Under his watch, Great Britain Women's Hockey team won the Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021 and the England women's team won a maiden Commonwealth Games gold in Birmingham in 2022.

"The men's performance director is a vital role as we look to continually increase the depth of talent and prepare players for the rigours of international cricket. What is clear with Ed is that he has been able to do that at England and Great Britain Hockey, building world-class programmes that have left them in a better place than when he started, while his experience with the ECB makes him ready-made to build on the significant work we have already been doing," ECB director of men's cricket Rob Key said in a statement.

Barney added, "The opportunity to return to the ECB and take on the role of performance director was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. It's been a real honour to lead the performance team at England and Great Britain Hockey. It has been very special to see many of the junior teams breakthrough, whilst the senior programmes have excelled on the world stage with European, Commonwealth Games and Olympic medals."