Ex-Aussie quick Harris joins Queensland coaching ranks

Former Test quick Ryan Harris has dropped out of the running to fill Tasmania's head coach vacancy, instead taking a full-time role with Queensland. 

Harris will serve as a Queensland state selector on a three-man panel including Bulls coach Wade Seccombe and the state's head of male performance, Chris Hartley. 

He will also oversee youth cricket in the state as Queensland's pathways coach and talent manager. 

Harris, the lion-hearted 41-year-old veteran of 27 Tests for Australia, had been linked with the vacant head coach role in Tasmania following Jeff Vaughan's move to join Justin Langer's support staff with the national team. 

Harris has steadily been progressing his coaching credentials since his shock retirement from Test cricket on the eve of the 2015 Ashes tour in England, having succumbed to the knee injuries that blighted his playing career.

He spent several years coaching the younger generation in CA's high performance program at the Bupa National Cricket Centre and has had several short stints as bowling coach with the national team, as well as the 2018 and 2020 U19 World Cups. 

More recently he has worked with the Australian women's team and gained experience in T20 cricket as a bowling coach under Ricky Ponting with the Delhi Capitals at the IPL, and with the Brisbane Heat. 

"Ryan has earned glowing reports from wherever he has coached and we're very pleased to give him the responsibility of overseeing the development of future generations of Queensland players," Seccombe said. 

"He will have the opportunity to work with our talented young male players as we resume the Pathways programs that had to be put on hold last year due to COVID-19.

"His background as a High Performance coach at the Bupa National Cricket Centre and his involvement with other national programs and squads ensures our emerging players will have a wealth of knowledge and experience to draw upon."

"It's great to have him back with Queensland Cricket and we're excited to be working with him again."

Tasmania, meanwhile, are in no rush to appointment a new head coach, admitting the role may not be filled until the new year.

Cricket Tasmania's pathways coach Ali de Winter is stepping up in the interim to lead the Tigers through the first stages of the Marsh Sheffield Shield and One-Day Cup competitions, while Greg Shipperd has also joined as a consultant.

Hobart Hurricanes head coach Adam Griffith, also Tasmania's director of coaching, is returning to the IPL for the rescheduled second part of the season in September, where he is a bowling coach with Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Shippered, who spent 11 years coaching the state, was convinced to come back by the playing group, including Jordan Silk and Jackson Bird, who both play with the Sydney Sixers where Shipperd remains head coach. 

He will be with Tasmania until the state program pauses for the KFC BBL, where he will seek to guide the Sixers to third successive Big Bash title.

Former players Cameron White and Johan Botha have also been linked to the role, with Cricket Tasmania engaging a recruitment firm for a global hunt. 

"From South Africa to England and across Australia a number of people have enquired about the job. We want to go worldwide to find the best person, and we'll bring in the person with the best capability," CT's general manager of high performance Simon Insley said.

"This is a long-term appointment. We're not trying to chase success over the next two years. Head coach of the Tigers has a strong focus on developing people and cricketers, so in an ideal world, we'd think they'd be here three to five years."