JON Lewis has announced his retirement from first-class cricket.

The Swindon-raised seamer was released by Sussex at the end of last season and this morning the former Gloucestershire captain was revealed as the new bowling coach by the county that let him go.

Lewis made one Test and 13 one-day international appearances for England during his career which the majority was spent at Gloucestershire.

The 39-year-old said: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people that have been a part of my life as a professional cricketer. Especially those at Gloucestershire and England.

“I feel very privileged that I was able to have fulfilled a career as a professional player for over twenty years and able to gain my coaching qualifications and experience alongside.

“I am now very excited to make the seamless transition from a player into a coach at a very welcoming and successful club.

“I am looking forward to becoming part of and complimenting the already successful existing coaching team.

“It gives me great pleasure to be given the opportunity of developing and maximising the success of the existing bowling attack and the next crop of exciting young bowlers at Sussex. I will be grabbing the challenge wholeheartedly.”