Tigers on prowl for new coach after Beams earns high performance role
THE TASMANIA Tigers and the Hobart Hurricanes women’s sides are on the search for a new coach after Salliann Beams was announced as Cricket Tasmania’s new general manager of high performance on Friday afternoon.
Despite signing on as head coach of the Tigers and Hurricanes for a further two years in May, Beams will now vacate the role for her new full-time position heading the performance management team.
Beams had coached the Tigers and Hurricanes’ female programs since 2018 and in March led the Tigers’ Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL) team to the state’s historic inaugural national title.
Beams said she was excited by the challenge ahead.
“When I had the chance to sit back and really think about my own career progression, this is the direction I really want to head in as I am passionate about creating the best high performance systems and people,” Beams said.
“I had a great working relationship with Simon [Insley, Cricket Tasmania’s previous general manager of high performance] and his departure was a surprise and I was really sad to see him go, and it wasn’t until the dust had settled from that, that the potential of this opportunity really dawned on me.
“Having signed a [head coach] contract extension back in May, this clearly wasn’t something I’d planned, but the opportunity to work in the male system while still working with the same players and staff in the women’s program made it really enticing to me.”
The 38-year-old said she was looking forward to bringing success to Tasmanian cricket.
“Jeff [Vaughan, Tigers and Hurricanes men’s head coach] and I have always collaborated really well together and we have a great team of coaches and support staff across the entire department.
“So I’m looking forward to watching a lot of success unfold on the field this season across all five of our elite teams.”
Cricket Tasmania CEO Dominic Baker said he was thrilled to keep someone of Beams’s calibre within the organisation.
“To have the best person for this role already within this organisation was a bonus for us.”
Cricket Tasmania said that it would announce the organisation’s coaching structure – and its new head coach – for the upcoming WNCL and WBBL seasons in the coming weeks.