Mahela Jayawardene and Charlotte Edwards have been appointed head coaches for the men and women’s Southampton-based teams respectively for The Hundred. Mark Nicholas has been named Chairman.
Mahela Jayawardene set to coach Southern Brave in The Hundred
Jayawardene will work alongside Shane Bond who is assistant coach in the tournament with the pair having previously worked together at the the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League. Additionally, Jimmy Adams and Richard Halsall, England’s former fielding coach, will also be part of the coaching staff.
“I think The Hundred will interest the world’s best players because England is a great place to play cricket,” Jayawardene said on Thursday (August 29). “The structure of the tournament is good and that means most of the guys will put their name in the hat because this is a tournament that excites them.”
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Edwards is only the second English coach to be handed a position in the new 100-ball tournament set to begin in July 2020. Edwards, who is coach of Kia Super League side Southern Vipers, spent the last two seasons as director of women’s cricket at Hampshire. She also was the batting coach for the Adelaide Strikers in the Women’s Big Bash.
“I feel like I’ve learned a lot from coaching overseas and working with the Southern Vipers,” she said. “It’s my time to have a go and see what I can do.
“I think The Hundred is going to have a positive impact on the game at a grassroots level. I’m really looking forward to being there from the start and watching it all unfold. It’s really exciting because I’ve been to Australia and seen the impact the Big Bash has had and you just feel like we can do exactly that and more.”
Under Jayawardene and Bond, who is bowling coach at MI, Mumbai won two of their last three IPL titles. Bond is also head coach at the Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League.
