CA appoint Shelley Nitschke as Australia Women head coach until 2026

Shelley Nitschke has been handed a four-year deal by CA [PC: Twitter]

Cricket Australia (CA) has appointed former Australian women's player Shelley Nitschke as coach of their national women's side until 2026. Nitschke was earlier named interim head coach for Australia's Commonwealth Games 2022 campaign, which ended in the team winning gold.

The 45-year-old took over from Matthew Mott, who left his role in May and moved ahead with a coaching stint with the England white-ball team. A former all-rounder for Australia, Nitschke has represented her nation in 80 One-Day Internationals, 36 T20Is, and six Tests while accumulating 3,118 runs and scalping 153 wickets between 2004 and 2011.

"I'm honoured to have been given this opportunity to lead the team full-time and to continue to build on the legacy created by Matthew Mott. While I enjoyed my time working as an assistant coach, I feel the time is right to step up and lead this group in what's shaping as a new era with a new-look coaching group and the retirement of Rachael Haynes."

"Our challenge is to ensure the team continues to evolve; we’ve seen teams like India take their game to the next level and it’s important that the players feel they have the support they need to keep getting better every day."

Coaching Credentials

Her first association with the Australian team was in 2018, when she was appointed as an assistant coach. 

She will conclude her coaching role with the Perth Scorchers in the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) this season and will join the national side ahead of their five-T20I tour of India in December. 

Nitschke has worked in a coaching capacity with South Australia and WBBL side Adelaide Strikers as well.

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