Glamorgan Cricket: County to appoint new limited-overs coach

Matthew Maynard will continue to coach Glamorgan's Championship side

Glamorgan are to appoint a coach to run their T20 Blast and One-Day Cup sides, with current head coach Matthew Maynard signing a new two-year Championship-only deal.

They have twice come close to promotion in the longer format in Maynard's current four-year spell in charge.

But the county has only ever qualified twice for T20 Finals Day, most recently in 2017.

Assistant coach David Harrison was in charge of the One-Day Cup win in 2021.

They narrowly failed to reach the knockout stages of the 50-overs format in August, but Harrison could be in contention for the newly-created role.

Former club captain Maynard, 56, had a first coaching spell at Sophia Gardens between 2008 and 2010.

He has also been an England assistant as well as periods in charge at Somerset, Nashua Titans in South Africa and St Lucia Zouks in the West Indies.

"There's a lot of talk about how much cricket we play, and that links into the coaches as well, so the best way of keeping our coaches fresh is to split the two roles," Glamorgan director of cricket Mark Wallace told BBC Sport Wales.

"We are delighted that Matthew Maynard is going to stay on with his expertise in the red-ball side, and we'll look to bring somebody else in for the white ball."

Maynard told the club website: "Although I enjoy coaching the white-ball sides, I fully respect the decision made by the club to split the head coach duties and as always will do my best for Glamorgan Cricket.

"Taking charge of just the red-ball team will allow me to concentrate my efforts, and hopefully we can go one better next year and secure promotion to Division One."

'Pipped to promotion'

Wallace hopes it will be a case of having extra expertise at the club rather than two coaches with conflicting demands on the players.

"I think Matt's positive about it, it's an opportunity for him to keep developing the side which came third (in Championship Division Two), we were pipped to promotion," said Wallace.

"Getting up is a priority for the club and Matt will be able to focus his attention on that, while the two coaches will be able to bounce off each other."

Applications for the new role are being invited, with the club hoping to make the appointment in December.

The extent of the time commitment in the season is yet to be determined, depending on whether the successful candidate has other roles.

Former England wicket-keeper James Foster worked with Maynard on the 2019 T20 campaign, while ex-Glamorgan captain David Hemp could be available after ending a contract with Pakistan women.

Glamorgan are likely to operate with a smaller first-team squad in 2023, with top wicket-taker Michael Hogan ending his 10-year spell at the club, while Lukas Carey, Ruaidhri Smith, Tom Cullen, Joe Cooke, James Weighell and rookie Tegid Phillips have been released.

All-rounder Zain ul Hassan, aged 22 and previously with Worcestershire, has signed a rookie deal along with academy products Ben Kellaway and Ben Morris.

But no senior signings have yet been announced.