Stephen Fleming has become the latest high-profile overseas coach to be appointed for next year's inaugural season of The Hundred, after it was confirmed that he will serve as the head coach for the Nottingham-based men's team.
Fleming, the former New Zealand captain, is the most successful coach in the history of the Indian Premier League, winning three titles with Chennai Super Kings. He was also Nottinghamshire captain for three seasons in the mid-2000s, winning the County Championship title in 2005.
The Hundred's reliance on overseas coaches was criticised recently by Andrew Strauss, the former director of England cricket, who described it as a "missed opportunity" to promote home-grown talent. The confirmed names so far include several Australians in Shane Warne, Simon Katich and Andrew McDonald, as well as the South African Gary Kirsten, and Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene.
Fleming will be joined at Trent Bridge by Salliann Briggs, the coach of Loughborough Lightning from 2016 to 2018, who will head up the women's squad. Briggs led her team to the Kia Super League Finals Day for the first time in 2016, and is currently coach of the Hobart Hurricanes in the Women's Big Bash League in Australia.
"I am looking forward to returning to Nottingham," said Fleming. "It was a special part of my career and it allowed me to fall back in love with the game. My memories with Nottingham and Trent Bridge are outstanding."
The draft for the Hundred takes place on October 20, and Fleming said he would be leaning on the local knowledge of his assistants - as-yet unconfirmed - to ensure the Nottingham team makes astute picks.
"I'm really looking forward to working with some of the talented local coaches," Fleming said. "You really have to be on your game from the first pick in The Draft and make sure you get players that represent what you stand for and how you want to play. Having local coaches is a massive part of that - working with our three counties - to tap into their knowledge of the players."
Sanjay Patel, Managing Director of The Hundred said: "Stephen is the most successful coach in IPL history and Salliann has made a real impact at the Loughborough Lightning over the past few years. It is great to have their knowledge and expertise as part of the first year of The Hundred."
"It's a great opportunity and I'm really looking forward to getting started and building the team," added Briggs. "When The Hundred was first announced I was struck by how it was different from the IPL and the Big Bash and I thought it was a great idea to create something different from those tournaments, rather than attempt to compete with them.
"Since then you look at the coaches who are getting involved - and it looks as if the best players want to be involved as well - and it just feels like we're set to be involved in a really good competition."