T20 Global League: Phil Simmons roped in as head coach of Bloem City Blazers

Former West Indies and Ireland head coach, Phil Simmons, has been appointed as the head coach of the Bloemfontein franchise in the upcoming inaugural edition of the T20 Global League. The Bloemfontein franchise recently revealed their team name and team logo in the media. They will be known by the name Bloem City Blazers.

The franchise is owned by the City Group, a Hong Kong based business group. The owner of the team, Mr. Sushil Kumar, had recently expressed his excitement for the tournament. He had remarked that he hopes that his team will garner a lot of fans in the tournament.

“I hopes the team identity is one that all South Africans and cricket fans all over the world will grow to love and support. “We want to become part of the local community through the game of cricket. We want to promote the spirit of true sportsmanship and fair play, while at the same time creating a unique identity through our focus on performance and development,” he had quoted.

Now, the team has appointed a very strong coaching contingent. As per the reports in Sport24, Phil Simmons will be the head coach of the team. Simmons has been donning the coach’s hat for quite some time. It was under his coaching tenure that the West Indies team had lifted the ICC World T20 2016. Also, he had served as the head coach of team Ireland.

Peterson, Donald also on the roster

The Irish team had started to flourish under the guidance of Phil Simmons. Simmons will be joined by former South African left arm spinner, Robin Peterson. Peterson will serve in the capacity of the Assistant Coach. Also, the Bloem City Blazers will have legendary pacer Allan Donald as their team mentor and the franchise ambassador.

The tournament will kick start on November 3 and end on December 16.