Photo Credit: Cricket Netherlands
Shane Deitz has announced that she will step down as national coach of the Dutch women’s cricket team at the end of August. Shane has received an offer from West Indies Cricket to become head coach of the women’s national team. The KNCB regrets Shane’s departure, but understands and supports this decision as it was “an offer he couldn’t refuse” and an important career move.
Deitz became a full-time coach of the Dutch women in March 2021. During his time as a coach, the Netherlands played a creditable Global World Cup Qualifier in November 2021. The team’s progression did not go unnoticed, as the Orange regained One Day Status in June 2022. In November 2022, the Netherlands made its first T20 win in Chiang Mai against much higher ranked Thailand. In July 2023, the first One Day International win was also booked against Thailand, after the European T10 tournament in Gibraltar had already been won in February 2023. Parallel to these good performances, no less than six Dutch players ended up in the global ICC rankings.
During his term, a multi-year plan was developed to further professionalize women’s cricket in the Netherlands. This plan laid the foundation for the successes achieved over the past three years. The team peaked at twelfth place in the global ICC ODI ranking and eighteenth place in the global T20 ranking. The West Indies women’s team, Deitz’s future employer, is ranked sixth in the world.
Deitz: “Of course the decision to leave the Dutch women’s team was very tough, because I enjoyed working with this team. It’s a great group of girls. The team has grown on and off the field and is now in a very good position to qualify for a World Cup and I want to thank all the players for their efforts and sacrifices to get the team to where it is today.”
“The leaders of the team, Heather Siegers and Babette de Leede, are great to work with and are great leaders to move the team forward. I want to thank the many assistant coaches I’ve had and especially Lara Nicod, the team physio. The KNCB, Monica, Roland and Subir have also supported me enormously and I am very grateful for that. I am looking forward to my new challenge in the West Indies. Hopefully the two teams will play against each other at a World Cup one day. That would be a special moment.”
The Dutch women’s team is currently preparing for a European qualifying tournament for the 2025 World Cup.KNCB High Performance Manager Roland Lefebvre: “We will miss Shane’s accessible personality and holistic approach to women’s cricket and wish him and his family all the best. We thank Shane for all his hard work and dedication over the years and we will do everything we can to work towards a worthy replacement to keep women’s cricket at the top of our agenda”.
