National Men’s Head Coach
Candidate Brief
BACKGROUND
Cricket Ireland is the governing body for the game at both performance and participation levels
throughout All-Ireland, representing the interests of both the men’s and women’s game. The future of
Irish Cricket is incredibly bright following the performance of the men’s senior team in the past three
ICC World Cup and four ICC World Twenty20 events, defeating full members on five occasions, and
winning the Associate member qualifiers in all three formats in 2013.
This success has resulted in the rapid growth of the organisation and significant increase in turnover
through partnerships with blue-chip multi-national companies, with Sports Councils on both sides of the
Irish border and with the ICC. At the same time, our growth in playing strength has attracted some of
the top teams in the world to play Ireland, with teams such as England, Australia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and
Bangladesh all playing on these shores in the last few years.
In line with its strategic objectives, Ireland now has an opportunity to gain Test status by 2019 by
winning the ICC Intercontinental Cup 2015-17 and then defeating the 10th placed Test nation in a Test
Challenge series. Ireland is also now one of 12-teams on the ICC ODI rankings, and will have the
opportunity to play full member ODI’s over the period 2015-19. Ireland is currently 11th in the ODI
rankings and 9th in the T20I rankings, and the target is to reach 8th in both formats by 2018.
Following the departure of Phil Simmons, Cricket Ireland is seeking a full-time National Men’s Head
Coach, initially on a two-year fixed term contract.
The position is headquartered in North Dublin, but the nature of the role demands a national brief
across both sides of the border as well as significant time travelling overseas.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
The Head Coach will be responsible for developing a world class Ireland cricket team which delivers
sustained success in all conditions and formats, inspiring current and future generations of
cricketers and supporters with their approach to the game.
Reporting into Richard Holdsworth, Performance Director, the Head Coach will have responsibility
for the performance and management of the Ireland Men’s team and ‘A’ team in all three forms of
the game.
The Head Coach will lead and line-manage a team of support staff (assistant coach/analyst,
strength and conditioning coach, physiotherapist and consultant specialists), a dotted line to the
team operations manager, and will be responsible for defining their roles, their performance and
ongoing development.
The Head Coach will be responsible for reviewing, maintaining and enforcing the disciplinary codes
within the Ireland Men’s teams.
The Head Coach will be a member of the National Selection panel and Cricket Committee.
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EXPERIENCE REQUIRED
Essential
Coached for a significant period at first-class level
Track record of success at first-class level achieved over an extended period of time.
Hold a minimum ECB Level 3 Performance Coach (or equivalent)
Successful record in high performance planning and monitoring, as well as designing and
implementing player development plans and programmes in elite environments.
Desirable
International coaching experience.
International playing experience.
Track record at international level achieved.
Hold a minimum ECB Level 4 Master Coach qualification (or equivalent)
A Degree (or equivalent) in sport, sports science or coaching
The selection panel reserves the right to consider Desirable Criteria during the short-listing process
should candidates remain on an equal footing using simply Essential Criteria
KEY SKILLS
The Head Coach will be an accomplished strategist with clear and ambitious plans for how they will
develop and build further success for Irish cricket moving forward. They will need to demonstrate
that they can create a winning culture and team in all forms of the game, capable of beating full
member countries.
The Head Coach will be an outstanding communicator and people-manager, who will create a vital
coach-captain relationship and be able to deal with tough, contentious and confrontational
situations. Their focus will be on managing competitive, highly skilled and self-reliant Ireland senior
teams, and an elite performance environment that demands exceptional standards of
professionalism.
It will be the Head Coach’s role to ensure that there is a structure in place that ensures that all
Ireland performance squad and emerging players are developed as cricketers and individuals.
The Head Coach will need to provide confidence that they can develop and improve the existing
talent, technically and tactically, whilst identifying and integrating new talent into a team culture
that is both challenging and supportive.
This will include delivering senior team, small group and 1:1 coaching sessions, and preparation
sessions leading into a series/tournaments.
The Head Coach needs to demonstrate great planning and organisational strengths and will be
responsible for setting out and then executing short, medium and long term plans for the
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development of Ireland teams. Central to these will be the ability to manage the playing and
coaching resources at their disposal to the greatest effect across the three forms of the game.
The Head Coach must be able to demonstrate an innovative approach and a commitment to being
at the cutting edge of the latest developments in cricket and elite coaching. They will need to foster
strong working relationships across key personnel within Cricket Ireland, including coach
development, medical and sports science to ensure that Irish cricket becomes synonymous with
world leading practice in all areas of the game.
The Head Coach will need to build a close working relationship with the performance support staff
(team operations manager, assistant coach/analyst, strength and conditioning coach and
consultant physiotherapist) and National Academy staff.
The Head Coach will need to develop effective working relationships with the Inter-Provincial
teams, drawing on the expertise and experience of coaches from around the country, and
supporting them.
The Head Coach will be required to contribute towards key requirements of Cricket Ireland’s key
partners and stakeholders, in particular those who help fund the men’s programme, such as Sports
Councils (and their respective Institutes of Sport), ICC, our commercial partners, and other relevant
organisations.
WORKING RELATIONSHIPS
Performance Director
Chief Executive
Team Operations Manager
International Teams Administration Manager
Support staff: Assistant Coach/Performance Analyst; Strength and Conditioning Coach;
Physiotherapist (consultant)
Chairman of Selectors and national selectors
Inter-Provincial Head Coaches
Cricket Operations Manager
National Academy Manager
CI Cricket Committee
ICC High Performance Manager
REMUNERATION
The package will include a salary commensurate with qualifications and experience, and include
healthcare, pension, a fleet vehicle, and a mobile phone.
PROCESS
The closing date for applications will be 2nd April 2015, 9am local time.
Letters of application and full CVs should be sent by email to [email protected] and will
be confidential.
Cricket Ireland have deployed Sport Recruitment International to aid the recruitment process. For
a confidential discussion about the role, please contact Stewart King or Jim Chaplain either by email
at [email protected] or by telephone on +44 (0)207 0926961.
Preliminary interviews will be held week ending April 10th.
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Closing date: Friday 27 February 2015
CRICKET IRELAND
Unit 22-23 Grattan Business Park
Clonshaugh
DUBLIN 17
Republic of IRELAND
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