Heinrich Malan appointed Ireland men's team head coach

Dublin [Ireland], January 4 (ANI): South African-born coach Heinrich Malan has been appointed the successor to Graham Ford as head coach for the Ireland men's cricket team.
Malan will take up the role in March 2022 (subject to work permit approval) on an initial three-year contract, according to Cricket Ireland.
"It's very humbling and a huge honour to be appointed Head Coach of the Ireland Men's team. We have an exciting squad that has demonstrated that they have the ability to compete with the best players around the world. It is an exciting challenge and something that we, as a family, are really looking forward to," Malan said in a statement.
"A lot of credit has to go to Graham Ford, who has done a stellar job over the last four years. We have some serious building blocks in place which I believe we can build on going forward
"My coaching philosophy has certainly evolved over time and I am very keen to get to know this group of players and staff to collaboratively shape our environment through the way we want to operate on a daily basis," he added.
Malan, 40, a right-handed middle-order batter and medium-fast bowler, played first-class cricket in South Africa between 2005 and 2009, representing Combined Eastern-Northerns XI and Northern Cricket Union - captaining the latter during the 2006-07 season.
"We are delighted to have secured Heinrich as men's Head Coach and look forward to supporting him in taking the international men's side forward during what will be an extremely busy period for the squad," Richard Holdsworth, High-Performance Director for Cricket Ireland said. (ANI)