LONDON — Paul Farbrace is leaving his position as England's assistant coach to join Warwickshire as the club's sport director.

The 51-year-old Farbrace is replacing Ashley Giles, who became managing director of the England team in December.

Farbrace has been one of the key backroom figures for England under head coach Trevor Bayliss and had been set to play a major role in the forthcoming World Cup and Ashes series on home soil. However, he will now take up his new position as soon as he returns from the current tour of the West Indies in March.

Farbrace said in a statement that "there is never a great time to leave an international set-up and despite what will be a fantastic summer for English cricket, the opportunity to shape the future of one of the game's biggest counties was too much to resist. It would have been tough for me to have turned down the opportunity once Warwickshire showed an interest in me."

Giles said he will begin the process of finding a replacement for Farbrace and that he will "work closely with our existing set-up to ensure we have everything in place ahead of a busy summer of international cricket."

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