Ben Sawyer

Ben Sawyer (born 1978/79)[1] is an Australian cricket coach, who is the current pace-bowling coach of the Australia women's national cricket team, and head coach of the Sydney Sixers Women's Big Bash League team, and the Birmingham Phoenix women's team in The Hundred. He has also previously worked as assistant coach of Australia women, and a coach of New South Wales Breakers.

For the American bridge, see Ben Sawyer Bridge.

Ben Sawyer
Personal information
Born1978/79
RoleCoach
International information
National side
Head coaching information
YearsTeam
2015–Sydney Sixers
2021–Birmingham Phoenix

Career

Sawyer has been the head coach of Sydney Sixers in the Women's Big Bash League.[2] Under his leadership, the Sixers won two WBBL competitions in 2016–17 and 2017–18,[2][3][1] and were losing finalists in the 2015–16 and 2018–19 WBBL seasons.[3] He has the highest win percentage of any women's Twenty20 coach.[3]

Sawyer has also worked as an assistant coach for the Australia women's under-19 team, and for New South Wales Breakers as a fast bowling coach.[4] Prior to the 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20, Sawyer was appointed an assistant coach of the Australia women's national cricket team,[3][4] where he focused on fast bowling.[1] He replaced Ashley Noffke in the role.[4] Australian cricketer Ellyse Perry credited Sawyer as an important figure in helping Australia win the 2019 Women's Ashes.[3] Sawyer's contract was later extended until the 2021 Women's Cricket World Cup.[5] During his tenure as assistant coach, Australia have won two ICC Women's T20 World Cups and a Women's Ashes series in England.[5]

In 2019, Sawyer was announced as the head coach of The Hundred women's team Birmingham Phoenix.[2][3] The 2020 edition of The Hundred was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and so Sawyer took up the role in 2021.[5] In 2020, Sawyer became a full-time coach of the New South Wales Breakers. He continued with his part-time Australia coaching role, and as coach of the Sydney Sixers.[5] In July 2021, Sawyer was appointed Australia women's first full-time pace bowling coach. As a result, he left his roles at NSW Breakers.[6] Initially, Sawyer also announced his resignation from Sydney Sixers, but later agreed to coach them for the 2021–22 Women's Big Bash League, as the schedule for the WBBL did not conflict with any Australia women's international matches.[7]

References
  1. "Ben Sawyer to coach Birmingham women's team in The Hundred". The Cricketer. 19 September 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  2. "The Hundred: Ben Sawyer named Birmingham women's coach for new competition". BBC Sport. 18 September 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  3. "Australia mentor Ben Sawyer to be Birmingham Women's Team Head Coach for The Hundred". ESPNcricinfo. 18 September 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  4. "Big Bash coach jumps on to assist Aussies". Cricket Australia. 24 September 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  5. "Aussie assistant coach joins NSW Breakers". Cricket Australia. 9 July 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  6. "Sixers hunt for new coach as Sawyer joins Australia Women". Sporting News. 2 July 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  7. "Sawyer to stay with the Sixers". Sydney Sixers. 27 July 2021. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.