Former Kent player and coach Paul Farbrace has been named the new assistant coach of the England national team.

The 46-year old, who comes into the role having resigned from his post as National Coach of Sri Lanka, is to become the new number two in England’s coaching setup, with Peter Moores as head coach; a role he had previously held between April 2007 and January  2009.

Farbrace, who played for Kent between 1987 and 1989, was the head coach at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence between 2009 and 2011, having held the role of assistant coach with Sri Lanka before that. Farbrace only took on the role of Sri Lanka National Coach a matter of months ago, but has now chosen to return to his home country to work with England.

He has also held other coaching roles at Canterbury and was, for a time, Kent’s head of academy.

After leaving Kent in  November 2011, he took up the role of Second XI coach at Yorkshire; a post he held until December 2013 when he became Sri Lankan head coach, helping the side to a memorable World T20 win earlier this month.

After featuring for Middlesex, as well as his home county of Kent, in his playing days, Farbrace also coached the England under-19 team and the national women’s team.

David Collier, the ECB Chief Executive, said: “We are grateful to SLC for their understanding and co-operation in releasing Paul from his contract in order to achieve his desire to return to England and to allow him to work with Peter Moores.  Paul developed his coaching through the ECB’s Level Four programme and brings substantial international experience to the new Team England management.”

Paul Downton added: “In his short time as Sri Lanka Coach Paul has enjoyed unprecedented success winning first the Asia Cup and then following that with victory in the ICC World Twenty20 in Bangladesh – Sri Lanka’s first global trophy since 1996.

“He brings experience not only of his recent stint as Sri Lanka Coach but also his respected work with the England Academy, the England women’s team and his two years as Sri Lanka’s Assistant Coach. He also has great domestic knowledge following his time with Kent and Yorkshire.

“I am really excited about the way the England management structure is taking shape and I know that Paul and Peter Moores are looking forward to working closely together. I would like to echo David Collier’s thanks to SLC for reaching an agreement which allowed Paul to join us.”

Paul Farbrace said: “It’s fantastic to be given the opportunity to work with your own country’s national team and this was an offer that I could not turn down – much as I have enjoyed working with the Sri Lankan players and sharing in their recent success.

“I am particularly relishing the chance to work more closely with Peter as we undertook the Level Four Coaching programme together and have known each other since we were both young wicketkeepers on the county circuit together.  It will also be great to renew acquaintances with Alastair Cook and other senior players whom I worked with earlier in my coaching career with England’s age-group teams.”

England Head Coach Peter Moores welcomed Farbrace’s appointment and added:  “I am looking forward to getting down to work with Paul in the next few days. We have a lot of work to do in a short time as we prepare for the fast-approaching international season. There is no doubt Paul will bring a lot of recent international experience to the England set-up.”

The revamp in England’s coaching setup comes after a disastrous winter for the team, in which they were whitewashed in the Ashes series Down Under, leading to team director Andy Flower stepping down in January.

Limited-overs coach Ashley Giles had initially been one of the front-runners for the role, but England’s disappointing limited-overs results in recent months seem to have damaged his case.