Title-winning coach moves to high performance role

WNCL-winning coach Salliann Beams has been appointed Cricket Tasmania’s new General Manager of High Performance.

Former Yorkshire player Beams coached the Tasmanian Tigers women’s team to its first piece of silverware in March, and will replace Simon Insley in the role.

The move will see Cricket Tasmania on the hunt for a new head coach of both the Tigers and Hurricanes women’s teams, which Beams has led since 2018.

Beams said the chance to work with both men and women was particularly appealing, and hoped she could bring a fresh approach.

“Having signed a [head coach] contract extension back in May, this clearly wasn’t something I’d planned, but the opportunity to work in the male system while still working with the same players and staff in the women’s program made it really enticing to me,” she said.

“The opportunity to stay within the organisation after leaving a head coaching role is an exciting one, and something I am grateful for. The organisation has achieved a lot in recent years and I can’t wait to play a role in ensuring Tasmanian cricket reaches its potential in the future.”

A right-handed batter whose prolific domestic career in the United Kingdom saw her play 114 one-dayers and 28 T20s primarily for Yorkshire, Beams moved into the coaching ranks after hanging up the boots.

She held multiple coaching roles with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), before taking on the role of Cricket Performance Manager at Loughborough University.

The 38-year-old relocated to Tasmania in 2018, where she has coached the Tigers and Hurricanes women’s teams since.

It wasn’t until after Insley’s departure that Beams realised she could fill the role.

“I had a great working relationship with Simon and his departure was a surprise and I was really sad to see him go. It wasn’t until the dust had settled from that that the potential of this opportunity really dawned on me,” she said.

“I’m looking forward to watching a lot of success unfold on the field this season across all five of our elite teams, as well as working to develop and implement the strategy of how we’re going to further improve Tasmanian elite cricket in the medium- to long-term.”

Cricket Tasmania CEO Dominic Baker said Beams was a “great coach” and “excellent strategist”.

“To have the best person for this role already within this organisation was a bonus for us,” he said.

“We pride ourselves on our people, and Salliann’s plan and vision for the future of high performance presented to us through the recruitment process was exceptional.”

Beams is currently in the UK as head coach of the Trent Rockets women’s team in the The Hundred, a position she has held for the past two seasons.

Cricket Tasmania said it would announce a new WNCL and WBBL coach “in the coming weeks”.