Warwickshire first-team coach Jim Troughton will spend 19 days in Australia in the New Year, immersed in the Big Bash with Melbourne Renegades.
Troughton will be in the Victorian capital from January 9 to 28, a period which will take in the business end of the Big Bash group stage.
The trip was initially designed for him to spend some time with Renegades coach Andrew McDonald, to whom Troughton will be assistant coach for Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred next summer. McDonald has since left the Renegades to become senior assistant coach of Australia but the arrangement is still in place as McDonald’s successor Michael Klinger is keen to still welcome the Bear.
I will be there for the latter games of the group stage and really get an inside look at how the Big Bash is run and how teams go about achieving success.
Jim Troughton
During his stay, Troughton will also meet up with Chris Green, who will skipper the Bears in the Vitality Blast next year, and he sees the trip overall as a fantastic learning opportunity.
“It is a really exciting prospect,” he said. “It is the first time since I have been first-team coach that I will go overseas to really develop myself. Just after I took over in 2017 I had a chance to go to the IPL for three weeks but turned it down because I was just settling into the job here and wanted to get my teeth into it.
“Also it would have meant missing three championship matches but this time I will be away in January, out of our season, and I know the guys here can keep things going perfectly well. Pop Welch will take over as lead coach while I go over there and see what I can pick up from the way the Renegades operate.
“I will be there for the latter games of the group stage and really get an inside look at how the Big Bash is run and how teams go about achieving success. It will also be great to catch up with Chris Green ahead of him skippering the team for the whole of the Blast next season.”
Troughton expects to learn plenty which he can then bring back to Birmingham and apply to both the Bears in their T20 cricket and, alongside McDonald, to the Phoenix in The Hundred.
“Andrew is hot property as a coach and it is no surprise that Australia have come calling,” he said. “That part of the original plan has changed but there will still be loads to learn and I am sure I will catch up with Andrew at some point to talk about The Hundred.
“When he came over to England in the autumn we had some really good chats. He is an impressive guy and we will be keeping in regular touch.”
