Jon Lewis admits he should never have ended up at Sussex.

Lewis says the fact he was brought to Hove for his final season in county cricket at the age of 38 highlighted the lack of home-grown seamers coming through Sussex’s academy.

That is the problem Lewis is tasked with trying to solve having been installed as the club’s first ever specialist fast bowling coach following his retirement as a player.

Sussex have a good record in producing wicketkeepers – Matt Prior, Tim Ambrose, Ben Brown – spinners – Will Beer, Ollie Rayner and Tom Smith – and batsmen – Mike Yardy, Chris Nash, Matt Machan – in recent years.

The same cannot be said when it comes to fast bowlers though.

Lewis Hatchett made big strides forward last season while there are high hopes for Matt Hobden but other than that you have to go all the way back to James Kirtley and Jason Lewry for the last Sussex born and bred players to make a significant impact.

With the exception of Hatchett and Hobden the entire first team pace attack Lewis will work with next season are imports from other counties.

And that is why Sussex have pushed the boat out to bring in the former England international to ensure that five to ten years down the line the picture is very different.

While half of Lewis’s job will be to work with Steve Magoffin (Western Australia), Chris Jordan (Surrey), James Anyon (Warwickshire), Tymal Mills (Essex), Ajmal Shahzad (Lancashire) and Chris Liddle (Leicestershire) the other half will be to unearth and nurture the next generation of fast bowlers from within Sussex’s borders.

He said: “I want to stop Sussex having to employ people like me to come and bowl for them. Robbo should have a greater choice when he is looking to recruit from within.

“To have to come and get me to play means there is something not quite right. We are not producing guys we should be so that is a big part of my role.

“I think it is important that players identify with the club. If you grow up in Sussex watching the team there is a real affinity and stronger bond than if you are brought in from elsewhere.

“One of the main problems Sussex has is that it is surrounded by other first class counties so the pool is quite small. That means you have to find players quickly from a very young age so they don’t end up elsewhere.

“You have to hunt them out and work on them to grow them. We have some young guys in the academy who are looking okay but there is a lot of room to work and grow.

“It is a big job. The last people to really come through and excel for a period of time were Jason Lewry and James Kirtley, above, so my job is to produce more young cricketers from the area.”

See today's Argus for the full interview with Jon Lewis on his new role at Sussex