Surprise for Hurricanes as Kirsten quits head coach role

The South African was midway through a two-year contract with the Big Bash franchise but has chosen to resign is post

^{Hobart Hurricanes have been stunned by the resignation of Gary Kirsten}

Gary Kirsten has quit as Hobart Hurricanes head coach for personal reasons.

The South African was midway through a two-year contract with the Big Bash franchise but has chosen to resign is post.

Tasmania coach Adam Griffith will take charge for the upcoming 2018-19 season.

Cricket Tasmania chief executive Nick Cummins said: "We looked at a few different ways that we could have him involved, but this specific issue is going to prevent him from doing that" he said.

^{Adam Griffith takes charge of the Big Bash franchise}

"It's a real personal blow. We really enjoyed working with him and he had a significant impact on the program in a short amount of time."

Griffith, who was due to take over from Kirsten at the end of his scheduled two-year tenure anyway, will be looking to lead Hobart to back-to-back Big Bash finals.

"Three quarters of the squad are Tigers players anyway, so there's no different message I need to be telling them," he said.

"I've got some pretty cool ideas about what we can do across both programs so I'm looking forward to implementing those.

"I've had a pretty good apprenticeship before coming here, and even from my teaching days back before I was a player, the culmination of all that has given me enough experience to tackle it."