INTERVIEW
Follow UsIreland are set to take on India, New Zealand, South Africa, and Afghanistan for a host of white-ball matches ahead of the T20 World Cup. After the disappointing performance in the last edition in the Middle East, Ireland Cricket have made a host of changes to the stable by appointing former New Zealand batting coach Heinrich Malan as the Head Coach of the side. With Ireland taking on India for a two-match T20 series in Malahide, starting June 26 (Sunday), Malan will kick start his sojourn in Europe.
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Malan sat down with Cricket.com for an exclusive conversation and shed light on his coaching philosophy.
The next four months will be crazy for you, right? India, New Zealand, South Africa—a lot of good and cool cricket is coming up for you. How excited are you right now?
Yeah, 100 percent. Don’t put away Afghanistan at the back end of the summer, They, you know, have obviously played some good cricket over the last little period too. Look, we've got an exciting summer lined up. It's the most cricket that Ireland have played ever—from an international point of view—in their summer. So, really excited about next week this time, when we will have a full house outside of the Malahide for the first two games against India in the T20 format. It's been a while since the boys have obviously played in front of people—and in front of full crowds. So yes, it's bound to be an exciting little period for us. It's going to be a defining period for us as an international side.
Absolutely. And then you are going to face your home team, New Zealand, with three ODIs and three T20s against them. You’ve spent a hell lot of time with those boys. So how is it going to be for you as well—from a personal standpoint?
Yeah, look, I guess it's going to be an exciting summer on the front of facing South Africa as well—which is, you know, my country of birth—and then New Zealand, where I've obviously spent a bit of time over the last 10 years. So, yeah, it'd be nice to catch up with some familiar faces and players and coaches. Unfortunately, there won't be any love lost when the first ball gets bowled.
Can you please shed some light on your coaching philosophy?
It's a great question. A big part of my coaching philosophy is a collaborative approach and using the IQ in the room. Five or six heads are way better than one head. You've mentioned a couple of names there from players that have played some big games for Ireland. We will definitely make sure that those players are the people in front of the room that give the younger guys some guidance on things that have worked for them.
I guess that's probably the overarching philosophy that I try and abide by as a chameleon coach, trying to build those relationships—first and foremost—and trying to see what players connect to, the language they connect to, and what they take out of context from a conversation. And then try and be the guy that they need to one, perform consistently and then, two, to support them to do that. The wonderful game we play, there's no right or wrong way to play this game. For every argument or conversation you have, there could potentially be two or three other ways to get to the same result. I guess it's about creating that collaborative environment and, in the same breath, try and help our players to be selective in what they take out of conversations and really make it applicable to their strengths.
But it's also part of our coaching group philosophy to ensure that we help our players make some good decisions. We can't make the decision for them but, hopefully, we can help them and steer them in a direction where they feel they can take some ownership of the decisions they make and the way they want to go out there and play.
You have spent a couple of months already here in Ireland now. How are you coping with the tradition and culture of the Irish team?
I guess, a big part for us over the first six to eight weeks is making sure that I try and get around as much as I can, watch a fair bit of the interprovincial competition, which is being played for 50 overs, and the T20 side of things. And I guess it was just about trying to get a better understanding of who does what, what is the player pool like, trying to catch up with players that have played for quite a long period of time, but then, in the same breath, also spending some time with interprovincial coaches and getting their thoughts and ideas on how they see things progressing.
I guess I've got one foot under the table now and have a sort of half an idea about where things are at. But it's exciting to think that we've got a nice little mix of some experienced players that have played fine and for a period of time and trying to add a little bit of a sprinkle to that with some youth. If we can get those guys some opportunity and gain some experience as we go, in the build-up to the World Cup.
It's an exciting period, when you think we've got some guys that have played—and played well—for Ireland over the last 12 to 18 months. And then we've got a couple of guys that we want to try and form as part of our wider think tank towards building up to the World Cup. And through that, we're going to hopefully give some opportunity for them to bump heads with some of those senior players and, hopefully, their knowledge and experience will rub off on those guys.
What are the specific things that you're targeting to actually keep the Indians at bay? At this point, is it a bit overwhelming for Ireland as well or, are the boys really prepared to take them on?
Look, I guess that's the fun part of international cricket. Things change quickly and you've got to be adaptable. We've been playing domestically—here, the interprovincial competition has been going on. So the boys have played a lot of cricket. But, in the same breath, the weather will play its part as well, which is always a part of the wonderful game of cricket. We know that the players that we're going to compete against over the next six weeks have all played a lot of cricket—whether it's been in the IPL or for the international teams. And I guess that's the challenge for us.
As you've mentioned, the core of our squad has been together now for the last two or three years. And I guess a strategic decision that Cricket Ireland made a couple of years ago was trying to lead up to this World Cup with players that have played 30-plus games for Ireland. So, to have a core group of players that's done that will hopefully put us in good stead to be able to adapt to the international game and the pressure that that might bring us. Hopefully, we can keep adding a couple of the young and exciting guys that come through our interprovincial system into our wider squad and give them some experience and opportunities to bump heads with some of our experienced players and be at big games. As I've mentioned, it'll be a sold-out game for the first two games. And hopefully, over periods of time, expose them to some game opportunities and grow their skill sets and confidence too.
We've done a fair bit of work as the support staff in the background, making sure that we do our homework from a preparation and planning point of view. And we've enlisted Scott (Irvine) here, who has been hard at work doing a lot of statistical analysis and video analysis in the background around the players that we're going to come up against. I still feel it's really important that we use that information but that's not the focus. The focus for us is ensuring that we try and control the things that we do well and can do well and then want to focus on.
It's understanding who we’re playing against and using that information but really putting the focus on the way that we want to go about our business—creating that attention—and then focus on the way that we operate and using the opposition analysis tool for us to make sure that we can try and get there as quickly as we can.
William Porterfield is retiring from international cricket. He has been a legend of Irish cricket and one of the most known figures all over the world when it comes to Ireland Cricket. He had been there for a really long time. What is your word about him—his contribution to Ireland cricket and how he has actually impacted the culture there?
Yeah, he's played an instrumental part. And I think all the attributes that you've seen over the last few days given to him, applauding him for his input or his efforts over the last 15 or 18 years has been enormous. A very, very knowledgeable and very, very sound person. I really enjoyed our conversations over the last month or so. I was really looking forward to working with him. Very fortunate that he's spending a bit of time with us in the build-up to the Indian series as a consultant coach for us. And we're looking to pick his brains on some of the important things that he's seen over his period as one of the leaders in the Irish environment. And, hopefully, at some stage, we can ensure that that sort of passion can get back into the Irish system as well.
How do you see from the inside—having to work with a guy like Andy Balbirnie who as a leader is shaping up nicely? How is that partnership coming along?
Yeah, look, the coach—captain relationship is really, really important. And I guess it's one of the intriguing pieces of the cricketing landscape. The captain goes on the field and can make the decisions that don’t always necessarily correlate to the plan, because we've got to try and play what's in front of us. I've really enjoyed my time working with him. He's a very astute leader and a very astute cricketer, who does a lot of work behind the scenes to ensure that he gets the best out of his players. We've spent a fair amount of time together, trying to ensure that we are on the same page around where we want to try and go—that's still a work in progress.
We've only been together a couple of times now. Once we've gone into camp mode, we're going to be afforded that opportunity to spend every day together for a period of time. Hopefully, that relationships keep building and flourishing, and that we can get the best out of our individual players, but also the best out of our team and our squad, because it's got to be a squad effort over the summer, leading into the World Cup at the end of it. Hopefully, we can put a bit of depth to that squad, but also create some healthy competition so that guys don't necessarily look over their shoulders, but they know that there's someone that's going to push them from behind to ensure that they all perform.
