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Salliann Briggs and Stephen Fleming have been appointed as head coaches for the Nottingham-based team in The Hundred.
Former New Zealand captain Fleming is the most successful coach in the history of the Indian Premier League, winning three titles with the Chennai Super Kings. He returns to Trent Bridge where he skippered Nottinghamshire to the 2005 County Championship title.
Grimsby-born Briggs was coach of Loughborough Lightning from 2016 to 2018 and led her team to Kia Super League Finals Day for the first time in 2016. She is currently coach of the Hobart Hurricanes in the Women’s Big Bash League in Australia.
Fleming said: “I am looking forward to returning to Nottingham. It was a special part of my career and it allowed me to fall back in love with the game. My memories with Nottingham and Trent Bridge are outstanding.”
Fleming is regarded as one of the most tactically astute minds in world cricket and said the knowledge of his assistant coaches, who will be announced soon, will play a central part of his preparation for the inaugural season and the Men’s Player Draft on Sunday, October 20.
Fleming said: “I’m really looking forward to working with some of the talented local coaches.You really have to be on your game from the first pick in The Draft and make sure you get players that represent what you stand for and how you want to play. Having local coaches is a massive part of that – working with our three counties – to tap into their knowledge of the players.”
Briggs said: “It’s a great opportunity and I’m really looking forward to getting started and building the team.
“When The Hundred was first announced I was struck by how it was different from the IPL and the Big Bash and I thought it was a great idea to create something different from those tournaments, rather than attempt to compete with them.
“Since then you look at the coaches who are getting involved – and it looks as if the best players want to be involved as well – and it just feels like we’re set to be involved in a really good competition.”
Sanjay Patel, Managing Director of The Hundred said, “Stephen is the most successful coach in IPL history and Salliann has made a real impact at the Loughborough Lightning over the past few years. It is great to have their knowledge and expertise as part of the first year of The Hundred.”
The Hundred is a new 100-ball format that is set to launch next summer with the men’s and women’s competitions to run concurrently over a five-week period.
The competition is set to attract some of the world’s best players and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports and the BBC.
It will feature eight city-based clubs, from Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham, Birmingham, Cardiff, Southampton and two in London (Lord’s and the Oval).
The men’s player Draft is set to become the first major draft to be held in this country on Sunday, October 20. It will be shown live by Sky Sports with extensive coverage across the BBC.
