England have named Ottis Gibson as their bowling coach for this winter's one-day and Test tours to Sri Lanka.
Durham paceman covers for Donald in Sri Lanka
England have named Ottis Gibson as their bowling coach for this winter's one-day and Test tours to Sri Lanka.
The 38-year-old Bajan fills in for Allan Donald, who is unavailable due to prior commitments as a television commentator in his native South Africa.
Gibson has been involved in the ECB's set-up for the last few years, coaching during the winter and continuing his playing career with Durham during the summer months.
"He's got a pretty strong pedigree as a coach," England coach Peter Moores told
Sky Sports.
"Ottis has worked with all the players, which is one of the reasons he fits in so well, he knows all the England bowlers already so it's a pretty smooth transition from Allan to Ottis.
"We know what we've got with Ottis - he's a very fine coach who I know will do well when he works with the England team."
Negotiations
Moores recruited Donald as bowling coach during the Test series against West Indies earlier in summer on a temporary contract.
The South African is in negotiations with the ECB over a permanent contract, although it was always known that he would not be available to tour Sri Lanka.
"We always knew he wasn't going to be able to do this part of it because he's got commitments in South Africa," explained Moores.
"He's got quite a tough decision because he's got a young family and he's obviously already done the international circuit once as a player and he has to decide whether he wants to go down that route again."
England visit Sri Lanka for five ODIs in October and then return for three Tests in December.
