Ireland Cricket Team Records and Statistics: Coaching Staff List and Review

Cricket has traditionally been regarded as a team sport. If your team wants to win, it depends on everyone giving 100%, no matter how big or small the game is. Batters, fielders, and bowlers are all essential to a cricket team, but the eleven players on the field at any given moment are equally integral. Often, many unsung heroes on a team’s support staff put in many hours behind the scenes so that the players may concentrate on the game. In cricket, the coaches are the first people who come to mind when you mention support staff. This seems reasonable, given the competitive character of the sport. However, cricket squads generally feature many players who each have distinct roles to play.

Let’s take a look at the Ireland Cricket team’s coaching staff:

Position	Name
High-performance director	Richard Holdsworth
Head coach	Heinrich Malan
Batting and wicketkeeping coach	Gary Wilson
Pace bowling coach	Ryan Eagleson
Spin bowling coach	Nathan Hauritz
Operations manager	Chris Siddell

Richard Holdsworth: High-Performance Director

Richard Holdsworth was just named the new Performance Director for Cricket Ireland. Holdsworth, 42, will take over for Mark Garaway as the Regional Development Manager for ICC Europe. Management of all coaching staff and National Age Group squads, coaches, and managers will fall under his purview as he works to ensure that all international teams develop in the most professional environment possible. Together with the players, he will be in charge of cultivating connections with Cricket Ireland’s many stakeholders and discovering the potential for success.

Heinrich Malan: Head Coach

Heinrich Malan has replaced Graham Ford as head coach of the Irish men’s cricket team. The 40-year-old South African has lived and worked in New Zealand for a long time, most recently as the coach of the Auckland Aces. He has established himself as an unconventional coach who isn’t afraid to shake things up by adopting a more all-encompassing perspective. He has a strong interest in player development and is an outspoken supporter of sports science, especially as it pertains to preparing players for competition on the international stage.

Gary Wilson: Batting and Wicketkeeping Coach

Gary Wilson is the wicketkeeper for the Irish team and also bats. He is the Northwest Warriors head coach in the Irish provincial league. Wilson turned 35 in February, and in 2005, he played his first game for Ireland’s senior team. He has played at the senior level 292 times in his career. For Ireland, he played in a total of 5959 international matches and scored 3385 runs, including a century in one-day internationals. In addition to his outstanding coaching, Wilson was honoured for guiding a productive route process over the previous year. He was instrumental in changing the landscape of junior cricket and introducing new opportunities for growth at all ages.

Ryan Eagleson: Pace Bowling Coach

Cricket Ryan Eagleson, a former international player, has been hired as a full-time coach for the Ireland men’s senior team. The seam bowler, who is 47 years old, has played 65 times for the Irish national team. He has played for Derbyshire, Essex, and Glamorgan in the English county system. He is one of only a few coaches in Ireland to have the ECB’s highest Level 4 certification, and he has led multiple U-19 Ireland teams to the World Cup.

Since 2009, he has been the performance and pathway coach for the National Academy. Since September 2021, he has also been the head bowling coach for the team. Now, he is the coach for High-Performance Pace Bowling.

Nathan Hauritz: Spin Bowling Coach

Nathan Hauritz, a former spin bowler for Australia, has been hired as the spin bowling coach for Ireland. Hauritz, now forty years old, played for Australia for nine years and took 128 wickets in all three forms of the game. He played for 14 years before retiring in 2016. Since then, he has been the coach for the BBL’s Brisbane Heat and the WBBL’s Queensland Fire.

Chris Siddell: Operations Manager

Chris Siddell has been named Team Operations Manager for the senior men’s team by Cricket Ireland. Siddell started teaching after he got a BA Honours in Sport, Health, and Exercise and a PGCE from Durham University. He worked at Durham CCC for a few years as a coach and helped the Operations Manager with first-class and international cricket. In 2013, he was hired as the Cricket Development Officer for Malahide and started playing for the community. Siddell has been a National Selector for Ireland Women and the Digital Media Editor for the Cricket Ireland website since June 2018.