Cricket Ireland hope to have new coach in place for England ODI
Trinidad-born Phil Simmons left his job as Ireland’s head coach following the Cricket World Cup in March to take the post with the West Indies.
Cricket Ireland have received around 30 applications for the position vacated by Simmons and have already drawn up a shortlist, but the process has been slowed down by the different notice periods some candidates are required to work in their current jobs.
“It may be a case of a coach coming in and preparing the side against England, working out his notice for a month or so, and then coming back in,” Cricket Ireland high performance director Richard Holdsworth said.
“I am hopeful he will be there in time for the England game.”
Former New Zealand coach John Bracewell and former South Africa all-rounder Dale Benkenstein, who is currently in charge at Hampshire, are believed to head the shortlist, with Bracewell perhaps a marginal favourite because of his international experience as both a player and a coach. Bracewell, 57, played 41 Tests and 53 ODIs for New Zealand between 1980 and 1990, and coached the side between 2003 and 2008.
“The next coach needs to have a bit of Phil Simmons and a bit of [2007 World Cup coach] Adi Birrell,” Holdsworth continued.
“He needs to have experience, to have played or coached international cricket, and to have the work ethic and discipline that Adi had.”
Bracewell was a guest speaker at the Cricket Ireland Coaches’ Association national conference at the weekend, replacing Simmons on the panel, but Holdsworth says there is “nothing to be read” into the New Zealander’s visit.
“We had been talking about him coming to talk about coaching development about four months ago — he was always likely to be involved in this programme,” he said.
Ireland went out of the World Cup at the group stage on net run rate, despite beating the West Indies, Zimbabwe and United Arab Emirates, and all-rounder John Mooney hopes victory against England in front of a capacity crowd of 10,000 at Malahide will help maintain the sport’s momentum.
“The Irish public have probably forgotten about the cricket team already, but it won’t take them long to be reminded if we are in a position to beat England!’ he said.
England, who failed to progress from the World Cup group stage following defeat to Bangladesh, are likely to send a relatively strong squad to Malahide as under-pressure coach Peter Moores looks to avoid a defeat that could potentially cost him his job. England’s Dublin-born captain Eoin Morgan will miss the match, and members of the England Test team currently on tour in the West Indies will be rested, but Moores himself will prepare a side that is likely to include World Cup squad members Alex Hales, James Taylor, Stephen Finn and Ravi Bopara.
Moores was expected to take a break before England’s Test series against New Zealand, which starts at Lord’s on 21 May, but will instead fly to Dublin from Barbados via London to oversee the match
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