New Hurricanes and Tigers coach revealed

With interim coach Dan Marsh set to leave Cricket Tasmania next month, his replacement as Tigers and Hurricanes coach has finally been revealed. Find out who it is and what their plans are.

CRICKET Tasmania has a new head coach for its female program with Queenslander Jude Coleman set to take the reins of both the Tassie Tigers and the Hobart Hurricanes for the next three years.

Coleman will begin her new role next month following the conclusion of the WBBL season and prior to the Tigers’ second round of Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL) matches, which begin on December 18.

Coleman will replace interim coach Dan Marsh who will see out the WBBL campaign before leaving the organisation for a new assistant coaching role with the Australian Women’s Cricket team.

Queenslander Jude Coleman will take the reins of both the Tassie Tigers and the Hobart Hurricanes for the next three years. Photo courtesy of Cricket Tasmania

While originally from Queensland, Coleman will lead Tasmania with a deep understanding of the Tigers after the 41-year-old watched on as an assistant coach for South Australia earlier this year as the Tigers took down the Scorpions for their maiden WNCL title.

Coleman will join Cricket Tasmania with a wealth of experience having been an assistant coach for both South Australia and the Adelaide Strikers for the past three years following a stellar playing career with her home state of Queensland.

As a player Coleman remains one of Queensland’s leading wicket takers in the WNCL as well as being a multiple Indoor Cricket World Cup-winning captain for Australia.

Following her appointment Coleman said she was excited about the opportunity to become a head coach for a program she’d admired from afar.

In 2008 Coleman was the captain of the Australian Womens Indoor Cricket Team

“I’m really excited for this next chapter of my career in Tasmania,” Coleman said.

“I’ve loved my time working with [SA head coach] Luke [Williams] and all of the players in both the Scorpions and Strikers programs, as well as the players I come across during my time in the various Australian set ups, but what’s also become quite apparent within myself is that I’m ready for that next step up.

“From afar, it’s been pretty inspiring watching what ‘Sall’ [former Tasmania coach Salliann Beams], Dan [Marsh] and the team have built over in Tasmania. We came and saw it first-hand in the WNCL Final last year, and whilst it was hard being on the other side of it then, I just can’t wait to get started and get amongst it now.

“From my perspective, there is no need to come in and shake up a successful program – this first year in particular I will be observing and learning and supporting both the players and staff where I can, to continue to build long-term success for the Tasmanian women’s program.”

Former Hurricanes coach Salliann Beams. Picture: Chris Kidd

Beams- now Cricket Tasmania’s General Manager of High Performance- was thrilled with the new lady in charge.

“From our perspective, it’s been a really successful recruitment period for us – we’ve got the best candidate for the role,” Beams said.

“Jude obviously has an impressive resume, but it’s the people side of things where you have to make sure you get someone who is the right fit for the group, and I think we’ve got that in Jude.

“She’s obviously worked with a lot of our players before in various capacities, so there’s already a mutual respect there, but she also knows the importance of building a strong pathway to ensure the long-term sustainability of women’s cricket in Tasmania.”