London, Nov 18 (IANS): The England and Wales Cricket Board on Friday appointed former cricketer Jon Lewis, the men's team's Elite Pace Bowling Coach, as head coach of the England Women's team.

Lewis has been ECB's Elite Pace Bowling Coach since 2021, working alongside the England men's Test and white-ball teams. He was previously head coach of the Young Lions, having joined the ECB from the coaching staff at Sussex County Cricket Club.

Before that, Lewis took over 1,200 wickets in a 19-year professional career at Gloucestershire, Surrey and Sussex, and played 15 times for his country.

"Lewis and his new team will depart for West Indies on November 29. England's ODI and IT20 squads for the Caribbean will be announced next week. While Lewis was consulted, the selection was finalised before he had formally become head coach," the ECB informed in a release on Friday.

Lewis said: "It's very exciting to have been appointed as head coach of the England Women's team. It's a new challenge and one that I can't wait to get stuck into.

"I've watched from a distance over the last few years and it's clear that there are a lot of reasons to be optimistic about this team's chances going forward," he added.

"The last couple of years have seen the introduction of some younger players and that, allied with the increased strength in depth coming from the regional game, is a really promising sign for the coming few years.

"Our immediate focus is the West Indies, and particularly getting some points on the board in the ICC Women's Championship, and then we'll look ahead to South Africa and the ICC Women's T20 World Cup," he added.

Director of England Women's Cricket Jonathan Finch said: "We're really pleased to be able to appoint Jon as the new head coach of England Women following a thorough and competitive recruitment process. We set out to find a Head Coach with a range of experiences to help lead an exciting group of players across all formats and I am excited about what the future holds with Jon in the role.

"Jon comes with an excellent pedigree in the men's game working across different levels of the international pathway, and we were really impressed by how he sees the role moving forward. We look forward to him coming on board and driving the future direction of this team," he added.