Royals Sports Group-owned Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Friday announced the appointment of Steffan Jones as the franchise’s High Performance fast bowling coach.
The 48-year-old former pacer from Wales, had previously served as the team’s fast bowling coach in 2019.
As part of his new role, Jones will be responsible for providing high quality training, guidance and support to all bowlers who are part of the Royals’ set-up throughout the year, with a focus on the off-season and in the build up to the IPL season.
To start with, Jones will be working with the team during their pre-season camp to be held from March 7 to 10 at the Royals’ High Performance Centre in Nagpur, post which he will remain with the squad, helping the Royals’ bowlers prepare for the upcoming season.
The former pacer will also be inputting into the RR Academies in India and around the world, and aid in technical integration of the facilities, while also utilizing technology and innovation to support the overall enhancement and growth of both players and the academies.
With Jones on board, the Royals’ current and future players would also have a chance to visit and train under the former pacer in England whenever essential, where former Royals Jaydev Unadkat and Varun Aaron have also successfully undergone development work in the past during the off season.
On his appointment, Jones said: “I am delighted to be returning to the Rajasthan Royals and grateful to the management for giving me the opportunity to work with the team again. With a plethora of talented bowlers in our ranks, I’m looking forward to working with them round the year and preparing them to peak and excel when the season comes.”
On the other hand, Kumar Sangakkara, Director of Cricket, Rajasthan Royals said: “Steffan has been closely associated with the franchise over the past few years so he understands the culture perfectly, and brings with him a very able coaching style, which has been appreciated by both players and management in the past.”
“We are delighted to welcome him back to the franchise in his new role, wherein he will be working with our bowlers and providing support to them throughout the year, and we’re confident his expertise can guide us to newer heights,” he added.
During his playing career, Jones picked up 387 wickets in 148 First Class matches while playing for teams like Somerset, Northamptonshire, Derbyshire and Kent in English county cricket.
Notably, Rajasthan Royals were the champions of the inaugural 2008 season and have recently completed a major shareholding restructure, with Emerging Media having the majority ownership of the franchise with support from new co-investor RedBird Capital Partners.