Sixers go back to the future in coaching search

Just weeks after stepping down from the post, Ben Sawyer has been returned to his former role as Sydney Sixers head coach for the upcoming WBBL season.

Sawyer had left the job after being appointed a full-time assistant coach with the Australian women’s team, and the Sixers had advertised the role, but the tight turnaround to the start of the WBBL season in mid-October has since brought a change in thinking.

Cricket Australia agreed to a request from Cricket NSW for two-time title-winning coach Sawyer to guide the Sixers for a seventh and final season, before the club recommences its search for a new coach ahead of WBBL|08.

"We have agreed to Cricket New South Wales’ request for Ben to coach the Sydney Sixers in the WBBL this season," Shawn Flegler, Cricket Australia Female High Performance Manager, said.

"Ben is passionate about growing as a coach and we're committed to supporting opportunities to help in the development of our coaches."

Fellow Australia assistant coach Shelley Nitschke is also a WBBL head coach, in charge of the Perth Scorchers. Australia’s international schedule does not overlap with the WBBL, leaving both available to take up Big Bash jobs.

Sawyer is currently in the United Kingdom where he is coaching the Birmingham Phoenix women’s team and will return home ahead of Australia’s multi-format series against India beginning September 19.

"I am very excited that Cricket Australia and Cricket NSW have been able to come to an agreement here so that I can continue to work with the Sixers this summer," Sawyer said.

"The decision allows me to continue my development as a coach and also work with the exciting talent in the squad we have assembled for the Sixers."

Sawyer had already played a key hand in shaping the Sixers’ list for the upcoming season.

Alyssa Healy, Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner, Erin Burns and Lauren Cheatle are among those already on the books, while the club has also been linked to one of the most exciting young players in the world, with 17-year-old India opener Shafali Verma tipped to sign (providing a No Objection Certificate is granted by the BCCI).

After making the final in the first four seasons, winning two titles, the Sixers finished in fifth position in both of the last two tournaments despite fielding, on paper, one of the best squads in the league.

Speaking to media earlier this month, new Sixers list manager Lisa Sthalekar suggested the Sixers had been a victim of their own early success, sticking to what had been a winning formula rather than evolving as the competition changed around them.

She tipped the playing group to embrace a new approach this time around, as they work out how and when best to deploy their superstar batters.

"I know that they did a pretty thorough review after the end of the recent WBBL season … I think you'll see a different style of game that the Sixers will play this season," Sthalekar said.

"(It’s about) trying to find the perfect position for each of the players in their roles … is there an opportunity for two players to go hard at the top? 

"Is there an opportunity to change it based on the current situation of the match?

"I think that's something that the Sixers may look at for this coming season."

Sydney Sixers WBBL|07 list so far: Erin Burns, Stella Campbell, Lauren Cheatle, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Emma Hughes, Ellyse Perry, Angela Reakes, Hayley Silver-Holmes