CD ALUMNI IN COACHING ROLES
Three CD ALUMNI have been appointed to High Performance coaching roles in recent months - including a role for our very own Central Stags.
BEN SMITH (the one that came to CD as an overseas player in 2000/01, as opposed to the current squad member) will be the Stags' Dream11 Super Smash Head Coach this season, while GLENN POCKNALL fills that role for the Plunket Shield and Ford Trophy.
Smith, 51, will join CD in a contract role ahead of the T20 season from Northamptonshire where he is currently coaching during the UK seasons, having also assisted Ireland in recent years.
PHOTOSPORT
It's not Smith's first coaching foray with the Stags and he's a familiar face to many of the current players, after having guided the team a few years back when then-Head Coach Heinrich Malan was deployed to New Zealand A.
Dream11 Super Smash schedules are on their way, while the Stags' Plunket Shield and Ford Trophy dates are already here for the new summer.
Sgned-up Alumni members get free entry to Dream11 Super Smash matches throughout New Zealand. So if you haven't registered already, make sure you're registered with our free Alumni membership programmes ahead of the silly season and enjoy some free entertainment on us.
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Another former Central Stag, Nelson's BJ BARNETT, has meanwhile headed from one sunny spot to another, appointed as Head Coach of the Sunshine Coast Scorchers in Queensland.
PHOTOSPORT
Barnett was last season named Assistant Coach of the Central Hinds, and his new role sees him head up the Sunshine Coast Scorchers female programme.
Barnett represented the Central Stags in 2011/12.
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And last but not least, former Stags and Auckland legspinner TARUN NETHULA has been announced as the new Performance and Talent Coach of the Auckland Hearts.
Nethula will serve as an Assistant Coach for the Hearts programme, supporting another former BLACKCAPS representative, Head Coach Rob Nicol.
Nethula gained valuable experience last season as an Assistant Coach of both the NZC Female Development Tour to India (a shadow U19 squad along with several over-age emerging players) and the U19 NZC Female World Cup squad in South Africa, and will begin his new role in September when the female Domestic teams start their run into the coming summer.
Nethula, 40, represented the Central Stags from the 2010/11 to 2013/14 seasons.
Article added: Monday 21 August 2023
