Johan Botha named new coach for Brisbane Heat and Queensland

Johan Botha. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

With an international career spanning seven years, Johan Botha, the former Proteas cricketer, who played in five Tests, 78 ODIs, and 40 T20Is, has been appointed head coach for Brisbane Heat, the reigning Big Bash League champions, and Queensland, nine-time Sheffield Shield winners, for a term of three years.

The announcement follows Wade Seccombe’s resignation from both positions on March 20, 2024. Despite leading Heat to their first BBL triumph in 11 years since their inaugural title, he was instructed to reapply for both roles after an end-of-season evaluation. However, Queensland’s performance suffered, finishing last in the Sheffield Shield for the first time in his seven-year tenure and second-last in the Marsh Cup.

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Coming to Botha, since moving to Adelaide in 2012 to play cricket for South Australia he has become an Australian citizen. After leading South Australia in the Sheffield Shield and Marsh Cup for two years, Botha stepped down during the 2014-15 season to facilitate Travis Head’s ascendancy to captaincy. Additionally, he boasts extensive BBL experience, having played 71 matches in aggregate for Adelaide Strikers, Sydney Sixers, and Hobart Hurricanes.

Botha’s coaching experience includes roles such as fielding coach for Islamabad United and Karachi Kings in the 2017 and 2020 editions of the Pakistan Super League, assistant coach of Multan Sultans in 2018, and head coach of Sultans in 2019 and Islamabad United in 2021. Additionally, he has been head coach for Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Caribbean Premier League since 2018. In 2023, Botha was appointed as the bowling coach for Seattle Orcas in the inaugural season of Major League Cricket, underscoring his vast coaching expertise across various leagues globally. 

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Given that most of Botha’s coaching expertise lies in white-ball cricket, he recognized the difficulty of coaching Queensland in both the Shield and the Marsh Cup. He conceded that while he has ample experience playing in both formats, coaching at this level would present a new challenge altogether, at least during the initial phase.

“I’ve played a lot of four-day and one-day cricket but I haven’t coached it. So, I think that’s going to be a little bit of a challenge to start with,” stated the 42-year-old.