Queensland Cricket have announced the return of Stuart Law as the new coach of the XXXX GOLD Queensland Bulls and Brisbane Heat for the next three seasons as predicted on World Cricket Badger at the end of June.
Law, 44, will fill the dual roles left vacant by the elevation of Darren Lehmann to the Australian coaching position at the start of the Ashes.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
He will attend the Bulls pre-season camp on the Sunshine Coast this weekend before commencing duties fully on 27 August after concluding his commitments as High Performance Coach at the Cricket Australia Centre of Excellence. He has worked there since standing down as Australia team batting coach last year.
Law, who played one Test and 54 ODIs for Australia and 367 first-class matches in a career spanning 20 years, said, “I’m very excited to again be involved with cricket in Queensland, which is where I got my start.’’
“Hopefully I can help the next generation to achieve all they can in the game and play it at the highest level possible.
Law was one of Wisden’s Cricketers of the Year in 1998 and was made a Life Member of Queensland Cricket in 2004. His career has gone full circle.
“It’s an honour to be back here. The last few years have been great watching the Bulls and Brisbane Heat enjoy their victories and I’m certainly looking forward to getting involved and helping them to move forward and taste further success,” said the man who scored 27,080 runs in his career.
Queensland versus South Australia in a Sheffield Shield cricket match at the ‘Gabba (photo credit: Wikipedia)
He played 16 seasons with the Bulls and is third on Queensland’s all-time runs-scoring list with 9920 runs behind Martin Love (11,224) and Jimmy Maher (9933). He made an unbeaten 54 in his only Test appearance against Sri Lanka in 1995 and enjoyed a prolific career with the bat for Essex, Queensland, Lancashire and Derbyshire.
Law also scored 11,812 career one day runs, including 1237 ODI runs for Australia in a career that included the 1996 World Cup.
He said he was confident of a smooth transition when he takes over the reins later this month as head coach, “We’ll pull things together pretty quickly. Darren had plans in place already for the season and the coaches and players have been working very well in that framework during the off-season.”
“I’ll be looking to slot in with minimal disruption and get on with things.
“I’m fortunate in that in my capacity with the Centre of Excellence, I’ve been pretty familiar with the set-up in Queensland and where the playing group is at. It’s going to be an enjoyable challenge.”
Law’s coaching CV is impressive.
He was in charge of the Australian Under-19 team that finished second in the ICC Cricket World Cup in Queensland last winter and was assistant coach of the Australian Southern Stars women’s team that won the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka last year.
He has coached Bangladesh and Sri Lanka internationally, being a part of the ICC Cricket World Cup final appearance with Sri Lanka in 2011 as the assistant to Trevor Bayliss, running the national side for its tour of England in that same year after Bayliss resigned, and then taking Bangladesh to its first ever Asia Cup final in 2012.
As captain
He led Queensland to the 1994-95 Shield victory that ended a 68-year championship drought, and followed that with another Shield title in 1996-97 and Pura Cup trophies in 1999-2000, 2000-2001 and 2001-02. He was also captain of two domestic one-day championship teams for the Bulls.
He stepped down from Australian first class cricket after the 2003-04 Shield Final loss to Victoria in Melbourne, but continued to play county cricket in England with distinction for Lancashire and Derbyshire until his retirement in 2009.
Law also played for the Chennai Superstars in the now defunct Indian Cricket League, winning a T20 and One Day title as captain in 2007 and 2008.
The BBL champion Brisbane Heat squad will depart mid-way through next month to compete in the Champions League T20 tournament in India where they will clash with T20 teams from the Indian Premier League, South Africa, New Zealand, the West Indies and Pakistan.
Related articles
- Stuart Law wants Queensland return (cricketbadger.com)
James Buttler
As the editor of World Cricket Badger he is intent on building the website to give quality coverage of the domestic game around the world.
He is also the presenter of the Cricket Badger Radio Show on Radio Yorkshire every Tuesday evening between 7-9pm UK time.
James was the full-time Media Manager at Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 2007 and 2010.
James is a published author, a writer/video contributor to many cricket publications and a complete cricket badger!
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