Blues, Sixers coach roles up for grabs

With Trevor Bayliss confirmed as the new England head coach overnight, his departure to helm the Old Enemy will have repercussions throughout Australian cricket.

The 52-year-old's exit from Australia's shores leaves immediate vacancies at the NSW Blues and the Sydney Sixers, with a global hunt for new coach(es) launched immediately, but it putts the Blues on the back foot just a fortnight out from the start of pre-season.

Compounding Cricket NSW's dilemma, last season's senior assistant coach Phil Jaques signed on to coach the myFootDr Queensland Bulls just a fortnight ago.

While NSW hurriedly draws up a shortlist of candidates, the Sixers may have their eyes set on another former international making waves on the coaching circuit.

Ricky Ponting is on the hunt for new gigs fresh from successfully leading the Mumbai Indians to this year's Indian Premier League title.

In his maiden coaching role, Ponting was able to revitalise his team's fortunes after a less-than-ideal start which saw them take just one win from their opening six games.

Mumbai then won nine of their final 10 games, including Sunday's comprehensive 41-run victory against the highly-fancied Chennai Super Kings.

The Australia legend intimated he was open to other coaching roles, adding coaching his charges to the IPL title was among his most satisfying career achievements.

"You never say never as far as these big jobs are concerned," Ponting said last week. "If the team starts winning a few IPLs, people might start thinking of me as an international coach.

"It's been a special couple of months in my life and (I told the players) if we could cap it off with a win, it would be one of the most memorable."

Ponting retired from Test cricket in late 2012 with an Australian record 13,378 runs to his name from 168 matches. He had a brief stint on the English county circuit – he hit an unbeaten, match-saving 169 in his final match – before he played his last competitive game in the Caribbean Premier League T20 comp in August 2013.

He has since impressed with his insightful analysis and commentary in the past two summers with Ten's coverage of the KFC T20 Big Bash League, a role he is understood to greatly enjoy, but added after Mumbai's victory that he was happy being back in the dressing room.

"Because I was on the road and playing for 20-odd years, just to have that all stop and have no competitiveness in my life was a little bit hard to deal with," Ponting said.

"I love the game and I love working with younger blokes. To come here and have the opportunity to work with some of the young boys … you see the joy in their faces today and that's what it's all about."

While the Sixers have a conundrum, the Adelaide Strikers breathed a celebratory sigh of relief at the news Gillespie would not be joining England.

The South Australian Cricket Association had, much like Yorkshire, been preparing for the worst but, with England opting for Bayliss over Gillespie, both clubs can move forward.

For Adelaide, that means securing a second international for BBL|05 to play alongside Kieron Pollard.

With Jaques moving to Queensland, could Stuart Law – who has taken a role coaching on Australia A's winter tour of India – possibly move south of the border? Appointing a Queensland legend may not sit well with the Blues faithful, but Law has already acquired considerable experience with the Bulls and, prior to that role, in international head coach positions with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

NSW may consider turning to another former Test star with a much greater affinity for Sydney to take their coaching reins, with former Shield-winning state captain Simon Katich possibly in the mix for the role.

A 56-Test veteran, Katich retired from cricket after leading the Perth Scorchers to their first Big Bash League title to concentrate on his role as a player development manager with Australian Football League team Greater Western Sydney Giants.

Tasked with mentoring the club's playing group to expedite their leadership qualities, 39-year-old Katich works closely with the club's head coach Leon Cameron and is also closely involved with the academy players.

Tom Moody was touted as another candidate in line for the England position, as he was in 2009 and again last year, and might be tempted by a return to first-class cricket with NSW.

The Western Australian coached Sri Lanka for two years, leading them to the World Cup final in 2007 before returning to his home state where he held the reins for three seasons.

He currently coaches the Sunrisers Hyderabad, who were knocked out of this year's finals race by Ponting's Mumbai. As well as an administrative role as director of cricket for the Caribbean Premier League, Moody has a range of television commitments.

Ali de Winter has been searching for another coaching position since his role as limited-overs bowling coach for the Australia men's team ended in January.

The Tasmanian has held development coaching roles with his home state as well as Western Australia before joining the national set-up in 2012. He left the senior squad on good terms, with Craig McDermott taking over his duties, and is rated highly by the national set-up.

Greg Shipperd guided the Commonwealth Bank Bushrangers to last summer's Bupa Sheffield Shield title before being replaced by David Saker, but is not thought to be a likely candidate for the NSW role.

Highly-rated assistant coach Trent Woodhill is vastly experienced, having worked with New South Wales previously, and the Sydney-born batsman is also David Warner's personal batting coach.

Woodhill previously held roles at an international level with New Zealand and Pakistan, and also works in limited-overs cricket with the Melbourne Stars and star-studded Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL.

South African Paddy Upton could be another contender, having experience working under Gary Kirsten both with India and South Africa. He also has head-coach experience with the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL where he works well with NSW-based Australians Shane Watson and Steve Smith, and has a strong link to Sydney as coach of the Thunder.

Sri Lanka-born Chandika Hathurusinghe had a successful stint with NSW as an assistant coach and interim head coach in 2012-13 prior to Bayliss taking over. Hathurusingha was also head coach of the Sydney Thunder until he left to take over as head coach of the Bangladesh national team in May 2014.

However, that role has not been all smooth sailing, with tensions surrounding Hathurusinghe's public comments about squad selections drawing the ire of the Bangladesh Cricket Board.

His contract position with Bangladesh is unknown, but it is something NSW may be interested in making enquiries about. He previously held roles coaching in the country of his birth, where he worked alongside Bayliss.