Otago Cricket today confirmed that Warren Lees will coach the Otago Sparks for the 2012-13 season. Lees who is a former Otago captain and BLACKCAP player, coach and selector has agreed to return to coaching to complete a rejig of Otago Cricket’s coaching set up.
Mohit Rao has resigned from his position as assistant coach of the Volts and been replaced by Nathan King. King who was the coach of the Otago Sparks and is about to embark on a trip to Sri Lanka as the Whiteferns assistant coach for the ICC World Twenty20 has been appointed as assistant coach of the Volts for the coming season.
Otago Cricket CEO Ross Dykes said “How fortunate we are in Otago Cricket that we can lose the services of a skilled practitioner in Mohit Rao and effectively replace him with the highly experienced and respected Warren Lees. We take great pride in promoting our own and it is a real thrill to see Nathan King take a new step in his coaching career and, at the same time, welcome back such an icon of our game as Warren Lees.
It is certainly not every day that a major Association can claim to have a Life member as the coach of its Women’s first X1. It is important that we acknowledge the contribution that Mohit Rao has made to Otago Cricket. His quiet efficiency has played a large part in the development of many of our Volts and I am sure he will add much to the emerging talent in Hong Kong.
Lees added “ I am really enjoying being back down south and having an involvement with coaching at different levels including schools. When Ross spoke to me about the vacancy and the opportunity to help Otago Cricket out I was excited about the chance to renew an old association that I have missed. While I have not been involved in the women’s game before it is something I have followed and really look forward to working with players like Suzie Bates and Katey Martin”.
