Shelley Nitschke to take over as head coach of Perth Scorchers

Shelley Nitschke, former Australia allrounder and current assistant coach of the Australian team, is set to take over as head coach of Perth Scorchers in the next season of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL). She has signed a two year contract with the club and comes in following the departure of Lisa Keightley who is set to take charge as head coach of England.

“Lisa has always spoken very highly of the WACA so I’m really looking forward to working with a new group of players and support staff, and Perth is a great place,” said Nitschke, following the announcement on Tuesday (December 17). “I will be looking to build on the great work Lisa has done with the Scorchers. They had a great 2019 WBBL season making the semi-finals, so I will look at where we can get better to go the next step in the competition.”

One of Australia’s greatest allrounders, Nitschke played 122 internationals, taking 153 wickets and scoring 3,118 runs across formats. Having started off as a bowler, the left-arm spinner redefined her game, turning herself into one of the team’s most attacking batters at the top of the order. 

Over her storied career, in which she was part of Australia’s 2005 ODI World Cup winning squad, and the 2010 World T20-winning team, Nitschke also won the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year (2010) and also bagged the Belinda Clark medal on four occasions.

Since her retirement in 2011, she has taken up coaching roles with Adelaide Strikers, South Australia and Cricket Australia as well. She will bring a great deal of experience and expertise to her new role in Perth.

“I think I’m in a really fortunate position at the moment, I get to see the T20 games at both the national and domestic level and the skill set that is required to be successful in this format. Hopefully I can pass on some of that knowledge to the team,” she added.

“We are very excited for Shelley to join the Perth Scorchers,” Kade Harvey, WACA General Manager - high performance, said. “Shelley is a perfect fit for our group with her experience as a former Australian player and work with the current Australian women’s team as assistant coach.”

"Shelley has forged a respected career as a high performance coach and we look forward to her taking the team forward for the 2020 WBBL season and beyond,” he concluded.