Surrey head coach Gareth Batty has stepped down to join Indian Premier League side Chennai Super Kings as an assistant coach.
Batty led Surrey to three consecutive County Championship titles during his first three seasons in charge and guided the club to two T20 Finals Day appearances.
“Thank you hardly seems enough for all that Surrey has meant to me,” the former England spinner said on the club’s website.
“The new journey is a very exciting one for my family and I, and I’m looking forward to getting going.”
His departure ends a 21-year association with Surrey. He had two spells as a player, the first from 1998 to 2001 after leaving Yorkshire, before spending seven seasons at Worcestershire and returning to The Oval in 2010.
Batty captained Surrey between 2015 and 2017, and in total played more than 350 times for the county, taking more than 500 wickets across all formats.
Batty, who played nine Tests for England, retired in 2021 and immediately joined Surrey’s coaching staff. After he was appointed head coach in 2022, Surrey became the first team in nearly 60 years to win three County Championship titles in a row.
“It is difficult to put into words just how much Gareth Batty has given to Surrey County Cricket Club, both as a player and as head coach,” director of cricket Alec Stewart said.
“I have known and worked with Gareth for many years, and throughout that time he has shown an outstanding commitment to this club.
“While we are sorry to see him go, I understand that this opportunity was too good for him to pass up on and will enable him to spend more time with his family outside of the IPL season.”
Three of the 10 teams who will play in Division One of the County Championship next season are now without a head coach, after Glamorgan’s Richard Dawson joined the England set-up and newly-promoted Durham’s Ryan Campbell moved upstairs to become the club’s director of cricket.