As lockdown seems to fade partially, counties are looking to open up in a phased manner. One of the biggest areas of concern has been sporting activities. Outdoor activities have been a dream since the pandemic began to take the globe on its radar.
Cricket fans have never seen these many months without a match. However, Australian fans have not been disappointed. The players have been entertaining on their social media handles and the board has been keeping minds busy with new updates constantly. Recently, another announcement came from WBBL.
Trent Woodhill has been named the coach of Melbourne Stars. He has been a club list manager and, in the past, worked as an assistant coach in KFC BBL. Interestingly, he would continue to serve his list manager role across both the WBBL and BBL squads. Earlier, the predecessor to Woodhill, David Hemp was to be replaced by Leah Poulton. Woodhill was quoted in Cricket Australia’s Website saying that he is looking forward to the role and is looking to stick to it.
He added that he has been involved with the stars for quite a few years and, hence, is familiar with the environment and ethos of the franchise. He admits that the competition will get stronger and further says that, “I’d certainly like to see a maiden finals appearance this season and win the title but there is plenty of work to do first.” The assigning of two roles subsequently to Woodhill are the result of cost-cutting measures by Cricket Victoria.
A major restructure was announced in May as resources have cramped due to the Novel COVID-19 outbreak. It has to be noted that Woodhill has great experience in the men’s game. He has coached New South Wales and the Kiwis. Moreover, he has also been a part of IPL with teams namely RCB and Delhi Daredevils.
In women’s cricket, he has worked with the NSW Breakers in the 2008-09 season. He was the batting coach to Alyssa Healy. Shaun Graf who serves Cricket Victoria as the general manager says that “Trent is well known to everyone at the Stars and in the Big Bash more broadly.” The general manager of Stars, Nick Cummins, believes that side will hopefully have a better understanding of the upcoming season. It has been reported that Cricket Australia might look at reducing the length of the season in order to cut costs. However, these are mere speculations as of now.
News Source: Cricket.com.au
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