Photo Credit: Hobart Hurricanes
The Hobart Hurricanes are thrilled to announce Jeff Vaughan as their new BBL head coach, with the Tasmanian Tigers head coach inking a three-year deal that will see him at the helm of the Hurricanes until at least BBL|14.
Vaughan will be no stranger to the Hurricanes set up, having worked as an assistant coach when he first moved to Tasmania at the start of the 2017-18 season.
In 2019, Cricket Tasmania made changes to the coaching structure of their men’s program, which saw Vaughan promoted to the role of head coach of the Tasmanian Tigers, working solely with the Tigers side of the program until he accepted a role as a part of the Australian men’s cricket team set up in mid-2021.
Vaughan returned to the Tigers head coaching role on a long-term deal earlier this year.
The Hurricanes newly appointed Head of Strategy, Ricky Ponting, said, that Tasmanian cricket was lucky to have someone of the calibre of Vaughan already heavily involved in the program.
“I know it’s been something that’s been much debated previously, but I am a strong believer in continuity between programs,” Ponting said.
“Whilst my role in strategy is solely related to the Hurricanes, I am also obviously passionate about the development of Tasmanian cricket as a whole, and with an individual like Jeff already so involved with and committed to the organisation, I think it’s important that we invest in the highly competent people we already have, which in turn will see us investing further in Tasmanian cricket.
“Jeff Vaughan is very highly rated across Australian cricket after his recent stint in the Australian coaching system. Jeff has fantastic people management skills, and we are confident he can bring our group together into mould them into a winning team.”
Assisting Vaughan will be two other names synonymous with cricket in Australia; Darren Berry and James Hopes.
Victorian-born Berry played first class cricket for both Victoria and South Australia as a wicketkeeper-batter, before turning his hand to coaching, having held roles for both states he played for, as well as in the BBL, IPL, PSL and the Hundred.
Former Australian and Queensland allrounder, Hopes, has held numerous coaching roles in Australia, as well as previously working as bowling coach with the Delhi franchise in the IPL.
“Darren and James are two very well-respected individuals within the Australian cricket fraternity, and I’m fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with them both previously,” Ponting continued.
“From just looking at their resumes, you can see they are two very experienced T20 coaches, and I believe that they both have the T20 smarts to add enormous value to the Hurricanes drive for success.”
Cricket Tasmania CEO, Dominic Baker, said he was thrilled at the key decisions that had been made and relationships Ponting had built in such a short space of time since his appointment.
“We hired Ricky for not only his knowledge of the T20 game, and the cache and contacts he brings to our club, but also for an objective perspective as to where we can look for improvement from the past few seasons. Based on this, we are confident that we will have the optimal off-field line-up in the League for this season.
“Ricky’s involvement with the match day coaching staff will not only facilitate their own professional development through his support and mentoring but will see us having very experienced people at the helm come match day.”
Name of Author: Hobart Hurricanes
The Hobart Hurricanes are an Australian professional men’s Twenty20 cricket team based in Hobart, Tasmania. Competing in the Big Bash League, they primarily play at Blundstone Arena and also host some matches at University of Tasmania Stadium in Launceston. The team wears a purple uniform.
