Sweden Cricket Federation (SCF) have announced the appointment of South African legend Jonty Rhodes as the head coach for junior cricket development and high-performance cricket. Rhodes, who is currently in Dubai with his commitments in the Indian Premier League (IPL), will be joining in mid-November and will be based in Stockholm at the Swedish Cricket Federation headquarters in Idrottens Hus.
“Our growth goals and focus areas are primarily aimed at youth cricket and development towards high performance cricket. Jonty will have an important main role in lifting our players as well as assisting in the framework for Swedish Cricket’s quality training, all to ensure and contribute to a sustainable future for the sport. I am happy to welcome him as a team member to our small but ambitious team! ” says Benn Harradine, sports director for the Swedish Cricket Association.
“I am really happy about the opportunity to move to Sweden with my family and I look forward to working with Swedish Cricket. This opportunity came at a perfect time and I am grateful to have the opportunity to contribute my energy in a whole new environment. I’m really looking forward to getting started! ” says Jonty Rhodes.
As part of his contract, Rhodes will overlook development of the sport from the grass-root’s level in Sweden to their national squads. With Sweden poised to take part in ICC Men’s T20 World Cup European sub-regional qualifier for 2022 T20 World Cup sometime next year in 2021, the move couldn’t have come at a better time, as it gives Rhodes the time to get acclimatized in the country and get familiar with the national squad members and also get a look at the other domestic talent across the country. Jonty’s involvement with the U19 playing group will be invaluable as Sweden U19 team are also going to take part in 2020 ICC U19 Cricket World Cup Europe division 2 competition, which was postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
With coaching stints with South African national squad and Indian Premier League franchises Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab, Swedish players will be getting to learn from the best as they look to become one of the major cricket country in the European region and also make a mark in global rankings.
