Top 10 Best Cricketers Who Became Coaches

November 5, 2021 By Sourav

There are several options for a sports superstar to continue his career after his retirement from an active playing career. There is quite a number of amazing players from a variety of sports, who are now working as team advisors, managers even commentators for the sport which they once played. Careers as a commentator and media personalities were, and are, a top choice for any famous player as they had their own viewership all over the world, as well as their huge fan base. Some choose to be coaches and disperse their knowledge and experience to the players of the younger generation. And, here are the greatest Cricketers Who Became Coaches.

Best Cricketers Who Became Coaches | 2021 Updates

Cricket is one of the most famous sports which is viewed by an amazing number of sports fans throughout the world. There are enough numbers of cricket legends also present in the current scenario who achieved a great height of success as a coach of various teams. So here is the list of Top 10 Best Cricketers Who Became Coaches.

10. Andy Flower

Retired Zimbabwean Left-handed batsman and International cricket Coach Andy Flower played 63 Test matches and 213 One Day Internationals and is considered as one of the best wicket-keeper batsmen in cricket history.

Flower scored 4794 test runs with an average of 51.54 and 6786 ODI runs at an average of 35.34. He is placed in the 31st position in the ICC's Top 100 All-time Test Batting rankings. Flower became the assistant coach of the England national cricket team in May 2007 and became the head coach in April 2009.

During his time as a coach, the England team won the 2010 ICC World cup Twenty20. Flower also coached England's national cricket team during the titles of Ashes series three times in 2009, 2011, and 2013. He received the Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2011. He now deserves his place among the top 10 best cricketers who became coaches.

9. Javed Miandad

Retired Pakistani Right-hand batsman and International cricket Coach Javed Miandad played 124 Test matches and 233 One Day Internationals and are Pakistan's leading run-scorer in Test cricket.

He is described as "the greatest batsman Pakistan has ever produced" by ESPNcricinfo. Miandad is also famous for his historic last ball sixer in 1986 against India. Miandad coached the Pakistan Cricket Team three times.

He served his first spell as the coach from September 1998 to late April 1999, a second spell from March 2000 to April 2001, and a third spell from March 2003 to June 2004. During his time as a coach, the Pakistan team won the Asian Test Championship and the Sharjah Cup three times in 1999, 2000, and 2003. Miandad received the President’s Pride of Performance Award in 1986.

8. Darren Lehmann

Retired Australian Left-handed batsman and International cricket Coach Darren Lehmann played 27 Test matches and 117 One Day Internationals and are the current coach of the Australian cricket team. Lehmann scored 1798 test runs with an average of 44.95 and 3078 ODI runs at an average of 38.73.

He was appointed as the coach of Deccan Chargers in the Indian Premier League from 2009 to 2012 and also of the Queensland cricket team during the 2010-11 KFC Twenty20 Big Bash. Lehmann replaced Mickey Arthur in June 2013 as the Australian national cricket coach and started his international coaching journey.

Before Sanjay Bangar took the place as the head coach, Lehmann also served as the coach of Kings XI Punjab in a short term in 2013. Lehmann now holds the eight place in our list of the top 10 best cricketers who became coaches.

7. Tom Moody

Retired Australian Right-handed batsman and International cricket Coach Tom Moody played 8 Test matches and 76 One Day Internationals and also played in two finals of ICC World Cup as a player in 1987 and 1999. He served several years as the Director of the Worcestershire cricket club from 2002.

Moody was appointed as the head coach of the Sri Lankan national cricket team in May 2005 and made it to the final of the 2007 ICC world cup. He became the head coach of the Western Warriors supported by the Western Australian Cricket Association in May 2007 and reached the final of the 2008 KFC Twenty20 Big Bash.

Moody became the head coach of the Sunrisers Hyderabad for the Indian Premier League’s 2013 season. Moody was also cast as the commentator of Channel Nine and Channel Ten.

6. Bob Woolmer

Former English Right-handed all-rounder and International cricket Coach Bob Woolmer played 19 Test matches and 6 One Day Internationals, and also made 15,772 runs and took 420 wickets in First Class Cricket.

He also took a hat-trick for MCC against the touring Australian cricket team. Woolmer starts his international coaching career with Warwickshire County Cricket Club in 1991 where he led the team to the title of 1993 Natwest Trophy.

He became the coach of South Africa in 1994, and the South African national cricket team won 10 out of 15 Test series during his time. Woolmer was appointed as the coach of the Pakistan team in 2004 and won the ODI series at the Return Tour of India. Woolmer received a high-ranking civil award from Pakistan’s Star of Excellence “Sitara-e-Imtiaz”.

5. Jason Gillespie

Retired Australian Right-arm fast-bowler and International cricket Coach Jason Gillespie played 71 Test matches and 97 One Day Internationals and have 201 not-out test innings as a competent lower-order batsman.

Gillespie took 259 test wickets and achieved 5 wickets in innings eight times, and also took 142 ODI wickets and achieved 5 wickets in an ODI three times. fans still consider him as one of the greatest fast bowlers in cricket history.

He was appointed as the coach of the Mid West Rhinos in Zimbabwe in August 2010 and also worked to improve the performance of young players in Zimbabwe. He was also appointed as the bowling coach of IPL's team Kings XI Punjab in a short period in 2011. Gillespie was named the First-team coach of Yorkshire in November 2011 and still works as the first coach of the Yorkshire team.

4. John Wright

Retired New Zealand Left-handed batsman and International cricket Coach John Wright played 82 Test matches and 149 One Day Internationals, and also captained the New Zealand national cricket team on several occasions.

Wright scored 5,334 test runs at an average of 37.82 and 3,891 ODI runs with an average of 26.46. He first coached the Kent County Cricket Club and was later appointed as the head coach of the Indian national cricket team in 2000. During his term from 2000 till 2005, the Indian team reached the final of the ICC 2003 Cricket World Cup and won the home test series against Australia.

He was the coach of the New Zealand cricket team from December 2010 till 2012. Wright also became the coach of the Mumbai Indians in IPL in January 2013. And, he now holds the fourth place in our list of the best cricketers who became coaches.

3. Duncan Fletcher

Retired Zimbabwean Left-handed batsman and International cricket Coach Duncan Fletcher never played Test cricket in his playing career. But, he took Zimbabwe to victory in the 1982 ICC Trophy. He belongs to a sports family. His sister Ann Grant won the gold medal at the women's field hockey team in the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics.

Fletcher was first appointed as the head coach of the England national cricket team in 1999. He then made radical changes during his term till 2007. During his time as a coach, the England team won the 2005 Ashes series after 18 years in English cricket history.

Fletcher also coached the English team during the title of the 2007 Commonwealth Bank Series. He was also appointed as the coach of the India cricket team on 27 April 2011. Fletcher then led India to win the 2013 Champions Trophy. And now, he holds the third place in our list of the best cricketers who became coaches.

2. Gary Kirsten

Retired South African Left-handed batsman and International cricket Coach Gary Kirsten played 101 Test matches. Besides, he also played 185 One Day Internationals as a South African national from 1993 to 2004. For his 188 not-out, he holds the record of highest runs scored in a single inning of a One Day International by any South African cricketer.

He is also successful as he starts his career as a professional cricket coach. The world still considers him as one of the greatest left-handed batsmen ever. He was the coach of the Indian cricket team from 1 March 2008 till early 2011.

During Kirsten as a coach, India won the 2011 ICC World Cup. Kirsten also coached India to the title of the 2009 Compaq Cup. Indian captain M.S. Dhoni once stated he is "The best thing to happen to Indian cricket." Kirsten also served his duty as the head coach of the South Africa national cricket team from June 2011 to August 2013.

1. Dav Whatmore

Retired Australian Right-handed batsman and International cricket Coach Dav Whatmore played seven Test matches. He also played a single ODI for the Australian National team and scored over 6,000 runs for Victoria at the first-class level. He coached the Sri Lanka national cricket team in two spells.

And, during that time they won the 1996 ICC Cricket World Cup. He also coached the Bangladesh national cricket team from 2003 to 2007. Whatmore led them to their first-ever International Test victory in 2005. By the Pakistan Cricket Board, he was appointed as the coach of the national team on 4 March 2012.

During his coaching of two years, the Pakistan team won the 2012 Asia Cup. Whatmore also served his duty as the head coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL from 2009 to the end of 2011. Whatmore deserves the top place in our list of the top 10 best cricketers who became coaches.

Conclusion

Greatest cricket players like Wasim Akram and Sachin Tendulkar are also present in the current scenarios that also work as advisors of different IPL teams as the Twenty20 format of cricket is now widely popularized all over the world. There are many players still to come in the field of cricket coaching as the sports fans always want to feel and see their favorite player even as a successful coach.