Russell Cobb is to be the new director of cricket at Loughborough University.

The former Leicestershire opening batsman will be the successor to the late Graham Dilley.

Cobb will be ending a 34-year link with Grace Road to take on his new role.

The opening batsman joined the playing staff in 1978 and scored 4,229 runs for County.

He then became a coach and in recent years has been County's high performance coach.

He has been a key figure at the Mike Turner Indoor Centre since its launch in 1993.

County have placed an emphasis on developing players through the Academy and Cobb has played an important role in identifying talent and nurturing it.

Stuart Broad, James Taylor, Matthew Boyce Jigar Naik, Nathan Buck, Greg Smith, Harry Gurney, Alex Wyatt and Russell's son, Josh, have all come through the ranks to become key players in the first team in the last few years.

County chief executive Mike Siddall said: "Leicestershire would like to thank Russell for his dedicated service to the club and wish him all the very best for the future."

County will now look for someone to take on Cobb's role.