Photo Credit: Cricket Ireland
Cricket Ireland has today confirmed Assistant Coach and National Bowling Lead Stuart Barnes will step down from his role after the upcoming Zimbabwe series for personal reasons, with former Irish international Ryan Eagleson appointed to the interim national bowling coach for the upcoming T20 World Cup in October.
Barnes was first involved in a bowling coach capacity with Ireland in August 2020 during the England v Ireland ODI series, and was subsequently appointed in November 2020 on an initial three-year contract. He relocated from England to Ireland in time to join the men’s squad for the Ireland v Afghanistan series in Abu Dhabi in January.
Ryan Eagleson, 46, played 65 times for Ireland between 1995-2004 claiming 70 wickets at 33.66. He has been part of national and provincial performance pathway coaching set-ups since 2006, including stints as Ireland Wolves Assistant Coach, Men’s Under-19s head coach and Shapoorji Pallonji Cricket Ireland Academy performance coach.
Graham Ford, Ireland Men’s head coach, said:
“Our sincere thanks to Stuart for his dedication and contribution to Irish cricket, and we will be sorry to see him step down after the Zimbabwe series. We fully understand that the pandemic and personal circumstances have made it extremely difficult for his family, and wish Stuart and his family well for the future.”
Richard Holdsworth, High Performance Director for Cricket Ireland, said about the Ryan Eagleson appointment:
“We have appointed Ryan Eagleson as bowling coach for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup, and he will join the squad as soon as his commitments at the Under-19s World Cup Qualifier have been completed. Ryan needs no introduction to Irish cricket fans and his credentials stand for themselves.”
“This interim appointment will now allow us to review our options around the senior coaching group, and we shall seek to appoint a full-time successor to Stuart after the T20 World Cup.”
