On December 22, Shane Deitz was appointed as the Netherlands’ first full-time women’s head coach. Deitz is an Australian cricket coach and former player. The southpaw represented Southern Redbacks in first-class cricket. The top-order bat kept wickets occasionally. During the early stages of the COVID-19 induced lockdown, the Aussie took the initiative of streaming a 10-over tournament globally. This was the only live cricket made available to people across the world.
He will take up his new post in March, replacing Sean Trouw, who held the role for three years. He has previous ties to Dutch cricket, having acted as club coach at Hague Cricket Club in 2007, and at HBS in 2008 and 2012. Prior to taking up Netherlands’ assignment, the 45-year old served as head coach (and briefly playing coach) of the Vanuatu men’s national team and also as CEO of Vanuatu Cricket. He also led Bangladesh’s women’s side. During his stint with Vanuatu, he made some useful contributions, which include, setting up a central contract programme for the national team, introducing deals for the best women players, inter-alia. Selina Solman was a proud recipient of the aforementioned benefit as she became the first female cricketer from Vanuatu to play grade cricket in Australia.
Deitz exclaimed, “I’m very excited about the opportunity to work with the Netherlands women’s team. The KNCB has big ambitions, as do I, and that’s what excites me most about this challenge. The current global T20 ranking doesn’t reflect the talent in the squad so we need to change that. The women’s game globally is getting more and more competitive, so we must be always working hard and looking to get better each day and the results will take care of themselves. I’ve been playing and watching Dutch cricket since 2007 and to work for the KNCB is something I’ve always wanted to do. I can’t wait to get over there and get over there and get to work.”
KNCB high-performance manager Roland Lefebvre stated, “These are exciting times for women’s cricket, with the ICC putting a lot of emphasis on the development and growth of the women’s game worldwide. The appointment of Shane confirms the KNCB’s strategic plans for women’s cricket. He brings a great deal of experience with him, which will benefit the talented group of Dutch players and we can’t wait for him to start.”
I am a former cricketer having represented Mumbai University at All India University level. I was a part of MCA probables for the U-19 and U-23 age group. I have been an avid cricket writer for the last five years. Currently I am pursuing my Ph.D from IIT Bombay.