Former England cricketer Vikram Solanki appointed Surrey head coach

Former England batsman Vikram Solanki has been named as the head coach of Surrey County Cricket Club.

The 44-year-old, who has played over 50 international matches for England, has been a coach at Surrey since his retirement from the game in 2016.

Solanki will now take up the role of head coach straight away and work with the Surrey squad as soon as the players will make a return to group training.

Reflecting on his appointment, Solanki lauded former head coach Michael Di Venuto for his outstanding contribution with the club and said that he is now looking forward to work with all Surrey players in his new role.

“I’d like to begin by acknowledging the outstanding contribution of Michael Di Venuto during his time at the Club. I am now really excited to be taking over as Head Coach. We have a very talented group of players at Surrey CCC and will be looking to compete in all formats – both in any competitions that are able to be staged this summer and in the future," Surrey official website quoted Solanki as saying.

“Our squad contains a great mixture of established talent and young up and coming players looking for opportunities. I’m looking forward to working with all Surrey players to make sure the Club has the best possible chance of delivering more silverware in the years to come," he added.

Surrey CCC Chairman Richard Thompson, on the other hand, said that Solanki has been a part of Surrey family for a long time now and it's fantastic to see him in the new position.

“Vikram has already been part of the Surrey family for a long time and it’s fantastic to now welcome him as our Head Coach. On behalf of everyone at Surrey CCC, we look forward to him taking up the role and playing an even bigger part within the Club," Thompson stated.

Surrey has served in coaching roles under both Graham Ford and Michael Di Venuto.He has also worked as an assistance coach to Ashish Nehra and Gary Kirsten for Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).

Solanki has also assisted Tom Moody in the Dubai based T10 competition.

The former England player has appeared in 51 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and three T20 Internationals between 2000 and 2007 and amassed a total of 1,172 runs .

Besides this, he has also featured in 325 first-class games and 402 List-A games, notching up over 31,000 runs in the two formats.