I see Derbyshire have appointed Ben Smith as Batting Coach, in place of Belly. In their announcement, they wish Ian all the best, "in the next stage of his Coaching career". Could that be back at Edgbaston, in place of Frost? If so, it has been a long time, coming.
"You can take the boy out of Atherstone, but you can never take Atherstone out of the boy !"
"The Bears and the (footballing) Foxes for ever !"
He has made it clear in interviews that he wants at some stage to have a head coach role, possibly as a prelude to the England job. So I'm not sure that a full time batting coach role would suit him. He has gone out of his way to take on as many part time roles as possible - last year he coached England Lions in red and white-ball cricket, Derbyshire in the County Championship and Vitality Blast, Birmingham Phoenix in the Hundred, at the T10 league in the UAE, and was an assistant for New Zealand on tours of England and Bangladesh. He is currently coaching Melbourne Renegades.
Anyway, it will be interesting to see what his next move will be.
He’s been named as batting consultant for the England Lions tour of India this month.