The former head coach of South Africa’s cricket team, Justin Sammons, has been named the new coach of Zimbabwe’s men’s national team. Dion Ebrahim, a former Zimbabwe international, has been appointed assistant coach.
“We are thrilled to announce Justin as the senior men’s national team of Zimbabwe’s head coach. In a statement, Zimbabwe Cricket chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani stated, “He brings a wealth of coaching experience and a reputation for identifying, nurturing, and developing some of the best young talent in South Africa.” “His hard-working and passionate approach as well as sense of values on and off the pitch make him the ideal person to take us forward.”
The information was released during the 2024 T20 World Cup, which Zimbabwe will not be participating in because they did not advance from the qualifying round. Zimbabwe will need to go through a qualifying competition in order to compete in the T20 World Cup in 2026. Zimbabwe has now missed three of the previous four World Cups, including ODIs and T20Is. As co-hosts, they will, nonetheless, automatically qualify for the ODI World Cup 2027.
Between 2021 and 2023, Sammons, a former member of the CSA’s high-performance unit who has experience working with a number of South African domestic teams, served as a batting consultant for the men’s national team.
Sammons described the hiring as a “privilege” and stated, “I am excited to work with this talented group of players and I look forward to the road ahead.”
Former Zimbabwe captain Dave Houghton led the national team for eighteen months before stepping down in the wake of Zimbabwe’s 2024 T20 World Cup disappointment. After that, Walter Chawaguta, who had coached Zimbabwe in 2008, assumed the role of acting coach.
In contrast, Ebrahim played for Zimbabwe in 29 Test matches and 82 One-Day Internationals from 2001 to 2005. More recently, he was a member of the backroom staff for the senior men’s squad in New Zealand.
ZC announced in a statement that Elton Chigumbura, the former captain of Zimbabwe, has been named head coach of the country’s Under-19 squad, and that the remaining support personnel for the Zimbabwe team would be hired after consulting with Sammons. His assistant and batting coach will be Norbert Manyande, a former South Africa bowler who played first-class cricket in Zimbabwe before moving on to play for Namibia; Paul Adams will serve as the bowling coach.
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