The 2nd edition of the FairBreak is all set to get underway on the 3rd of April with an all-stars game that’ll be followed by the tournament’s first game that’ll see Falcons play the defending champions, Tornadoes. Below, we’ll look at the head coaches of the 6 teams and their team of support staff.
The Tornadoes:
Former Indian wicket-keeper-batter, Anju Jain last year coached the side to the inaugural title win and this year will return in the same role to defend the title. The Arjuna awardee previously coached national teams of India and Bangladesh, and currently coaches in the Indian domestic circuit.
Anju Jain will have Jennifer Barden as her assistant coach, Chaitrali Kalgutkar will be the team manager, and Anuja Dalvi will be the physiotherapist.
The Falcons:
Runners-up, the Falcons too have retained their coach, Joanne Broadbent from the previous inaugural edition. The former Australian all-rounder took the Lendlease Breakers to six Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL) titles in the space of 7 years and also guided the Thunder to the inaugural Rebel WBBL title in 2016. She’s currently coaching the Northern Districts and the Spirit head coach as well.
Jasmine Titmuss will be the assistant coach to Joanne Broadbent, while Emily Boulton-Smith and Saba Nasim will play the roles of physiotherapist and team manager respectively.
The Barmy Army:
The side will have a new coach Michael Bates at the helm for this edition with Lydia Greenway not returning. Bates currently is the lead wicketkeeping coach at Hampshire County Cricket Club (CCC) and Sussex CCC. As well as being the lead Wicket Keeping/Fielding coach for England Women. He was the assistant coach to the women’s Kia Super League winning team, Western Storm, twice. He also oversees the entire coaching structure at Wokingham County Club working with all the teams from U10’s through to the seniors.
Michael Bates will have Devieka Palshikaar assist him, Elyse Potter is the team physiotherapist and Renee Montgomery is the team manager.
The Sapphires:
Shane Dietz will replace Mohtashim Rasheed as the head coach at the Sapphires and the left-handed top-order batsman and occasional wicket-keeper. He was appointed as the coach of the Netherlands women’s team in 2020, having previously served as head coach (and briefly playing coach) of the Vanuatu men’s national team, also as CEO of Vanuatu Cricket and coaching job with Cricket Wellington.
Shane Deitz will lead the charge of Sapphires’ backroom staff and has Hannah Trethewy as the assistant coach, Lara Nicod as the physiotherapist, and Sue Strachan as the team manager.
The Warriors:
Former Australian cricketer, Julia Clare Price returns as the sides’ head coach. She previously spent 3 summers at Hobart Hurricanes in the Women’s Big Bash League and in 2019 became the 1st female coach in men’s Big Bash as Brisbane Heat’s assistant. In March 2019, she was appointed as the head coach of the United States women’s cricket team.
Julia will have Dinesha Devnarain as her assistant coach, Julie Abbott as the team manager, and Celeste Raack as the physiotherapist.
The Spirit:
Erin Osborne is replaced by Australian Damien Wright for the edition. On the coaching front, after a stint as a bowling coach for New Zealand, Wright returned to Melbourne to coach the Melbourne Stars in 2012 and then got an offer to be the coach of the Hobart Hurricanes in 2013. In 2018, Wright was appointed Head Coach of the Bangladesh Under-19 team and led his side in the U-19 World Cup. In March 2021, Wright was appointed as the bowling coach of Punjab Kings ahead of IPL 2021.
Damien Wright will lead the Spirits backroom staff and will have Esther de Lange as the assistant coach, Stewart Williamson as the physiotherapist, and Vaishali Jesrani as the team manager.