Before taking up his new position, McGrath spoke to BBC Essex to reflect on his time at the club, which began in 2016 when he became assistant head coach to former Yorkshire colleague Chris Silverwood.
Together they led Essex to promotion from Division Two in 2016 and then to the Championship title the following summer, the county’s first red-ball top-flight triumph for 25 years.
But when Silverwood left to become England’s bowling coach, McGrath took on the top job at Chelmsford.
During his tenure, Essex established themselves as one of Division One’s strongest teams, never finishing lower than fourth in a regular Championship season.
The undoubted highlight came in 2019 when they won both the Championship and the T20 Blast, the first county to achieve that feat – and in the space of seven days.
“That season, but that week in particular, was incredible,” McGrath said.
And to back that up, Essex were victorious in the Bob Willis Trophy, the competition introduced during the Covid summer, in 2020.
