Jon Lewis, the former England Women's head coach, will reunite with Heather Knight, their former captain, at London Spirit after his appointment as Women's head coach at the Hundred franchise.
Spirit last week announced Knight's appointment as women's team general manager. As part of that non-playing role, she will work closely with Lewis on staff appointments and squad selection before and during the player auction in March as well as advising the on-field leadership group.
The pair last worked together during the Ashes at the start of this year, where England's winless performance led to Lewis losing his job as coach and Knight the captaincy, although she remains a pivotal player for her country, ending the recent 50-over World Cup as their leading run-scorer as the team reached the semi-finals.
At London Spirit, Lewis will be responsible for team selection and performance.
"This is a really exciting opportunity to play a part in shaping the future of this franchise," Lewis said. "I am looking forward to building a team packed with talent and character, playing cricket that Spirit fans coming to Lord's will get behind as we aim to win a second title this summer."
Early in Lewis's tenure with England Women, the team reached the semi-finals of the 2023 ICC T20 World Cup and defeated India in an away T20I series before an unbeaten summer against Pakistan and New Zealand in 2024. He also oversaw England's 2023 home Ashes series in which the hosts came back from a 6-0 points deficit to draw 8-8.
But a group-stage exit at last year's T20 World Cup ultimately signalled the beginning of the end for his time with the team, which came after England were thumped 16 points to nil on the subsequent Ashes tour.
Lewis has also been involved in franchise cricket, having led UP Warriorz since the inception of the Women's Premier League until earlier this year.
Having represented England in all three international formats as a player, Lewis was the ECB's elite pace bowling coach, working with England Men on their 2021-22 Ashes tour of Australia, and previously coached the Young Lions.
He was recently appointed director of cricket - overseeing the performance structure across men's and women's teams and pathway programmes - at his former county, Gloucestershire, who agreed to Lewis adding the Hundred role to his duties.
Mo Bobat, London Spirit director of cricket, was delighted to welcome Lewis to the franchise, which was valued at £295 million - by far the most expensive in the competition - during the recent private equity sale of Hundred teams.
"I know first-hand his capabilities as a coach and his qualities as a person," said Bobat, who worked previously with Lewis in the England Men's set-up. "He has a fantastic breadth of experiences, across both the women's and men's games, which will stand us in good stead in our pursuit of sustained success.
"It's particularly exciting to consider the potential of his professional partnership with Heather, whom he obviously knows well from his time with the senior England women's team."