Former Australian bowler Nathan Hauritz named Ireland's new spin bowling coach

Former Australian spinner Nathan Hauritz has been appointed Ireland's new spin bowling coach by Cricket Ireland. He will be involved with both the men's and women's teams and will also oversee the development of young and upcoming players.

Cricket Ireland's High-Performance Director Richard Holdsworth said that Hauritz is a timely addition to the management and will provide invaluable insides to their spinners.

In their statement, Holdsworth said, "We're delighted that Nathan will be joining the high-performance staff and look forward to getting him over here to start working with our spin groups. Filling this role now completes our elite coaching restructure and provides what we believe is a great coaching and support team around our performance squads. 

Not only will Nathan's skills and experience be invaluable to our spinners in both the men's and women's squads, but he will also be looking at the next generation coming through the pathway system."

Hauritz, who is currently in Brisbane, expressed his excitement about this unpassable opportunity and using his tactical and mental side of bowling.

The 40-year-old said, "The opportunity was too good to not even think about. I love discussing spin bowling from all facets and being able to do that in an international environment while travelling the world; how could you not want to do it. My particular interest as a coach is the tactical and mental side of spin bowling. When you play at the top level of cricket, your game is generally in a pretty sound space, but more often than not, it comes down to how you perform on the day that needs the most work. 

I believe my career and experience will help me communicate with and support the development of our current groups of spinners. It's an incredibly exciting time to be part of cricket in Ireland."

Hauritz played 17 Tests, 58 One Day Internationals (ODI) and 3 T20 Internationals (T20I) for Australia, finishing with 128 wickets in his career. Hauritz rose to instant fame in his debut Test, claiming the wickets of Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman at Wankhede Stadium in 2004.

Interestingly, both his first and last Tests were against India.

The off-spinner, since his retirement, has been donning the role of Queensland Fire and Brisbane Heat's spin bowling coach.