Melbourne Stars rope in Leah Poulton as head coach

Cricket Australia high-performance coach Leah Poulton has been roped in by Melbourne Stars as the head coach for the upcoming Women's Big Bash League season, according to cricket.com.au. Poulton takes the reins from David Hemp who has been at the helm of the Stars since the inception of the WBBL in 2015.

“I’m really excited to join the Melbourne Stars and would like to thank the club for giving me the opportunity of taking on the head coach role,” Poulton said. “There is fantastic potential both in the current squad and what we can achieve in the future. The club has a reputation for a fantastic family culture and that’s something I’m really looking forward to being part of.”

The last season hasn’t been the best for the Stars having finished at the bottom of the ladder and is also the only team to have never participated in the finals. A former cricketer, Poulton retired from the game in 2015 and has established herself as a leading figure in the coaching space.

The 36-year-old is currently overseeing Australia’s female National Performance Squad, a program that fosters the development of promising young cricketers and is the coach of Australia ‘A’ women’s squad, as well as Australia’s U-19 and U-15 female squads.

Prior to her impressive coaching career, Poulton won two T20 World Cups in her 90 matches for Australia, while also playing more than 100 matches for New South Wales.