Gavan Twining named head coach of New South Wales

full-time pace bowling coach.

Twining joins NSW having worked alongside Greg Shipperd and Trevor Bayliss at the Sydney Sixers in the men's Big Bash League, a club with which he was associated for six years. He also holds a role as a coach in the Cricket NSW pathway programme.

Before taking up a full-time coaching role with Cricket NSW in 2015, Twining worked as a part-time pathways assistant and an educator who was involved with various schools in Sydney. There, he doubled up as a PDHPE (Personal Development, Health and Physical Education) and cricket coach. He believes his different experiences will hold him in good stead in this new challenge as well.

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“I think being an educator teaches communication and people management, both of which are just so important in coaching – you’re doing it all the time in classroom,” Twining said. “While you’re teaching you learn that people are different and take in information in different ways. You get pretty good at learning different individual cues and messaging to be able to then get the best out of each individual."

“In coaching you need to tailor your communication to each person in a way that they understand and engage with so you can hopefully get the best out of them.”

NSW skipper Alyssa Healy expressed excitement on Twining's appointment, adding that his experiences within the men's pathway will help boost the women's programme as well.

“I think it’s really exciting to have Gav on board,” Healy said. “He was a really great candidate amongst a host of great candidates for this job. We feel the Breakers’ job is a prestigious role within cricket in this country and Gav is befitting of that role."

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“Gav interviewed incredibly well and he has been involved in our program behind the scenes in recent years and was a great help during the COVID period last summer.”

“It’s great for us seeing Gav come across to our program and being so keen to pass on his experiences. He’s been open to sharing what he’s learnt from some great coaches in the BBL. Just the confidence he has in situations and the lessons he has learnt are going to be invaluable to us.”

NSW, who have won an astonishing 20 titles so far, had a disappointing 2020-21 season, managing only three wins in eight games. They will be hoping to bounce back strongly and return to their winning ways with the guidance of Twining in 2021-22.