ENGLAND'S CRICKET WORLD CUP MASTERMIND MAKES THE SWITCH TO FOOTBALL AS HE JOINS NEWLY PROMOTED CHAMPIONSHIP SIDE DERBY TO HEAD UP NEW SPORTING INTELLIGENCE UNIT
- Mo Bobat is joining the Championship team on a part-time, job-share basis
- He'll continue his director role for IPL team, Royal Challengers Bangalore
Championship club Derby have appointed English cricket’s former performance director, Mo Bobat, as head of their new sporting intelligence department.
Mail Sport reported last November that Bobat, who spent a dozen years with the England and Wales Cricket Board, would move into football this year.
He has joined the newly promoted Rams on a part-time deal that allows him to retain his director of cricket role at Indian Premier League side Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Bobat, 41, has already begun work at Pride Park since finishing his maiden season at the IPL last month by taking Bangalore into the knockout stages. He is only months into a three-year deal with RCB and the job share suits all parties.
While overseas between the beginning of March and late May, he will liaise remotely with his new SI team at Derby, which includes ex-England selector Ed Smith.
Bobat was credited with a major input in England’s World Cup wins in both Twenty20 and 50-over between 2019-2022, and also helped revolutionise the Test team led by Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum through the use of cutting edge and robust talent identification.
Football tends to treat individuals crossing the threshold of their sport with suspicion, but Bobat, a former school teacher, faced the same in cricket, winning over the likes of his ECB bosses, Andrew Strauss and Rob Key, despite not playing at first-class level.
And he is also joining up with a coaching team led by manager Paul Warne that will be able to relate to his work – Warne's assistant Richie Barker and first-team coach Matt Hamshaw are both huge cricket fans.
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