Heinrich Malan is set to become the Ireland men's cricket head coach in March.
The South African will succeed Graham Ford.
Malan - who played first class cricket between 2005 and 2009 - has amassed considerable coaching experience in his native country and New Zealand.
He's currently employed as the head coach of the Auckland Aces.
📡: MALAN APPOINTED
A warm welcome to Heinrich Malan, Ireland Men’s new Head Coach.
➡️ Find out more about Heinrich: https://t.co/b9kPiucrwp#WelcomeHeinrich #BackingGreen ☘️🏏 pic.twitter.com/beUa1Lcobh— Cricket Ireland (@cricketireland) January 4, 2022
Malan comes into the Ireland job after a challenging period for the men's side.
They suffered a disappointing campaign at the T20 World Cup and have been affected by Covid-19 in their historic tour of the USA over the Christmas period.
Speaking after confirmation after his impending arrival, Malan says long-term goals will underpin his time in the job.
“It’s very humbling and a huge honour to be appointed Head Coach of the Ireland Men’s team," he said.
"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.”
“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.”
High Performance Director for Cricket Ireland, Richard Holdsworth, says Malan's ability to take a different approach was one of the main reasons for his appointment.
“We are delighted to have secured Heinrich as men’s Head Coach and look forward to supporting him in taking the international men’s side forward during what will be an extremely busy period for the squad," he said.
“Heinrich has worked in world-class environments at international and domestic levels, and has forged a reputation as an innovative coach with an interest and willingness to do things differently – taking a more holistic view of the game."
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