Ranking top 10 current coaches in world cricket

2. Mike Hesson

Mike Hesson is one of those few coaches in international cricket who never had a player’s career and took up coaching at the age of 22. He was associated with cricket in Otago, the region of New Zealand where he was born, for 15 years before he took over as the coach of the Kenyan cricket team after its poor show in the 2011 World Cup. His stint with Otago was successful as in six years, he transformed a struggling team into a competitive one and ended their two-decade wait for a trophy by winning a tournament in 2007-08. He did not last long as Kenya’s coach, however, and stepped down within a year citing security issues.

In July 2012, he became New Zealand’s head coach replacing John Wright. He became the Kiwis’ coach at a time when the chair of the coach had virtually become a musical one but when he stepped down in 2018, he was the country’s longest-serving coach. He was at helm when New Zealand cricket saw one of its most successful eras and he is credited for creating the culture of fair play for which the Black Caps are widely known. His partnership with former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum was special and under their guidance, the Kiwis made their first-ever World Cup final in the 50-over format in 2015. Hesson succeeded in transforming successful domestic players into successful international ones.

Hesson has also earned name as a coach in franchise cricket. He has worked as the director of cricket operations for the Royal Challenges Bangalore in the IPL, a team featuring heavyweights such as Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. Like a matured coach, Hesson said the likes of Kohli and de Villiers cannot be taught how to bat and one can only add some values to their game.

Before his association with Bangalore, Hesson also worked as the head coach of Punjab Kings (formerly Kings XI Punjab) and was reportedly in the race to become India’s head coach.