Heinrich Malan has been appointed Ireland's head coach for a period of three years. The South African is expected to start in the role from March 2022 and will replace Graham Ford. "It's very humbling and a huge honour to be appointed Head Coach of the Ireland Men's team. We have an exciting squad that has demonstrated that they have the ability to compete with the best players around the world. It is an exciting challenge and something that we, as a family, are really looking forward to," Malan said on Tuesday (January 4). "A lot of credit has to go to Graham Ford, who has done a stellar job over the last four years. We have some serious building blocks in place which I believe we can build on going forward.
"My coaching philosophy has certainly evolved over time and I am very keen to get to know this group of players and staff to collaboratively shape our environment through the way we want to operate on a daily basis. The 'wheel' in Irish cricket is turning nicely for the stage it is at, but this point in time is a great opportunity to review what - and how - we are operating to not only grow the wheel but make that wheel turn quicker. "While I came up through the South African system, the opportunity to move to New Zealand in 2013 really enhanced my coaching experiences and created opportunities to progress my coaching career. Hopefully, I can share these experiences and help our players improve and compete consistently across formats. And that is the key - to create greater consistency of performance over the long term. "Malan played first-class cricket in South Africa between 2005 and 2009 and has 11 years of coaching experience with first-class sides in New Zealand and at home. Malan has been head coach of the Auckland Aces since 2019 and had spent six years as head coach and program Director at Central District. Ford, appointed in 2017 oversaw Ireland’s first-ever Test match, against Pakistan, last year took his side to the T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates and Oman.
