Warwickshire have suffered a major blow with the news that Director of Cricket Ashley Giles has been named as England's new limited-overs head coach.

The England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed this lunchtime that former off-spinner Giles would take over the reins to "provide a more efficient and sustainable use of coaching resources".

Giles led the Bears to the County Championship and the final of the CB40 competition this year.

Andy Flower, who is looking to reduce his role with the national team will remain as England team director, and tour with the Test team, but Giles will take over for December's limited overs tour of India.

The change in structure will see Giles report to Flower who will retain the "accountability for the results of England cricket".

Giles told www.edgbaston.com: “I would also like to thank Warwickshire for the faith they showed in me when appointing me to my first major coaching role and for the outstanding support they have offered throughout my time at Edgbaston.

 I have worked closely with Andy in recent years as a selector and am looking forward to continuing to work with him to build on the progress that has been made with the ODI and T20 sides in recent years."

Colin Povey, chief executive of Warwickshire CCC, added: “This is a fantastic opportunity for Ashley and he leaves with our full support.

"He has been an important figure for both Warwickshire and England over several years and is well-equipped to deal with the challenges of coaching at international level.

“We are, of course, sad to see him leave so soon after helping us secure the LV County Championship, but he leaves behind a strong team ethos and the players are already working hard to prepare for next season.

"We will be maintaining our core playing philosophy and policies, and the search for Ashley’s successor will begin immediately.”

Flower has previously stated his desire to dilute his role at the top following the heavy burden of the cricket calendar.

The Zimbabwean has previously taken short breaks from his duties in charge of the national team during limited overs series in the past two years.

"I'm very excited by these changes and very much looking forward to working with Ashley Giles as we look to build on the success England cricket has had in the last few years," Flower said.

"The changes in my role will provide me with new challenges and the time to allow me to focus on areas that are important if England cricket is to continually improve.

"These include developing strategies to give us an opportunity for sustaining success in all three formats of the game.

"The change in role will also allow me to thoroughly plan and prepare for each of our international series whilst spending the right amount of time at home with my young family.