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Dave Houghton

TWO time Zimbabwe Cricket Coach of the Year Dave Houghton has joined top English side Middlesex as their batting coach from Derbyshire. Houghton twice won the most coveted domestic trophy – the Logan Cup with Matabeleland Tuskers in 2010/11 and 2011/12 seasons. He also scooped the best coach accolade.

At Middlesex, Houghton is to replace Mark Ramprakash who was appointed the England batting coach last week.

Houghton will take over at Lord’s when his contract for a similar post at Somerset ends on January 1.

The 57-year-old was Derbyshire’s director of cricket from 2003-07 and returned to the County Ground as a consultant batting coach under Karl Krikken in 2011 until 2013.

He has vast experience in both the international and domestic games. As a player, Houghton won 22 Test caps for Zimbabwe, scoring four centuries including 266 against Sri Lanka in 1994.

“I’m really looking forward to getting started and building on the great work already undertaken by the club’s previous batting coach, Mark Ramprakash,” said Houghton.

“We’ve a fantastic group of talented and gifted cricketers here at Middlesex and I can’t wait to begin working with them all.”

Middlesex director of cricket Angus Fraser added: “Everyone at the club is looking forward to working with him. As well as being an excellent batting coach, David has a wealth of knowledge that we can tap into.

“David is a real cricket man. He loves being around and talking about the game and having spent time coaching at Radlett CC he knows the area and what Middlesex CC is about. His coaching time will be split over the whole club. David will spend time working with players from Middlesex CCC’s first XI, second XI, academy and youth sides.”

Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic County of Middlesex. – Sports Reporter/online