Simon Katich to coach Manchester-based team in The Hundred
Thursday 4 July 2019 13:09, UK
Former Australia batsman Simon Katich will coach the men's Manchester-based team for the inaugural season of The Hundred.
Katich, 43, is the first coach to be confirmed for the eight-team cricket tournament, which begins in July 2020. He will be assisted by current Lancashire head coach Glen Chapple and assistant coach Mark Chilton.
He played 56 Tests for Australia, scoring more than 4,000 runs, before finishing his first-class career at Lancashire in 2013.
Katich brings a wealth of coaching experience having won back-to-back Caribbean Premier League titles with the Trinbago Knight Riders (2017 and 2018) while he has served as an assistant coach with Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League since 2016.
He also captained the Perth Scorchers to their first Big Bash League title in 2014.
Katich said: "I am incredibly excited by the opportunity to lead the men's Manchester-based team in The Hundred, starting next year.
"This is a competition that is catching the eyes of the cricket world, in terms of the calibre of players and coaches it will attract, and I'm so excited to start planning and working as men's Head Coach for this new side.
"Having played at Emirates Old Trafford for two years, I know what a special place it is, and what an incredible cricket ground it has transformed into over the last decade. This competition is going to be a ground-breaking moment for cricket across the world, and I'm honoured to be part of it."
The men's Player Draft is set to provide an historic first for British sport when it is staged on Sunday, October 20. It will be shown live by Sky Sports from 7pm.
