Leicester-born cricketer Josh Cobb has retired from professional cricket. The 34-year-old will lead the boys academy at Warwickshire. Cobb has been named 'Player of the match' in two T20 Blast finals. He has also won the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) title with Dhaka Gladiators in 2013. In addition, he captained Welsh Fire in The Hundred as well.
"Since making my debut 18 years ago, it's been a thoroughly enjoyable ride with plenty of ups and downs," Cobb said in a statement on March 18. "I'm immensely thankful for the people I've met, places travelled, and memories created over the years. Cricket has given me so much. Scoring my first hundred at Lord's aged 18 and winning the T20 Blast Finals twice are just some of the memories I'll cherish."
Warwickshire academy has produced players like Jacob Bethell and Dan Mousley of late. Cobb intends to develop more players as the lead at boys academy.
"My challenge is to keep developing homegrown players that can go on to play for the Bears and England," Cobb said. "I'm excited at the chance to lead an academy at such a great club like Warwickshire, one that's had a lot of success over a number of years," he added.
When Australia head coach called Cobb
This is not the first time Cobb has taken up a coaching role. In September 2024, he was called by former Leicestershire teammate, current Australia head coach Andrew McDonald to work as consultant with the players for two weeks during the ODI series in England. His father Russell is in charge of the UCCE sete-up at Loughborough University as coach too.
Cobb's career
Cobb's last professional cricket appearance was in a List A match for Worcestershire against Lancashire on August 14, 2024. He did not bowl and was dismissed for a single-digit score.
Cobb made his first-class debut in 2007. He has played 138 games and scored 5,552 runs averaging 25.94 including four centuries and 32 wickets. He has 20 wickets with the red ball as well. In List A, he has 3,338 runs from 100 games at an average of 37.93, including seven centuries and 21 fifties. He has 35 wickets in the One-Day format.
However, T20 has been a format where he excelled. From 210 games, he scored 4,262 runs averaging 23.81, including one century and 25 fifties. His strike rate of 133.27 is impressive as well. In T20s, he has 78 wickets including a fifer.