Julia Price joins Brisbane Heat, becoming first female coach in Big Bash history

Price, who is also head coach of the USA women’s team, will assist head coach Darren Lehmann alongside fellow assistants James Hopes, Ryan Harris and Gavin Fitness

Former Australia wicketkeeper Julia Price will become the first female coach in the Big Bash after signing a deal with Brisbane Heat.

Price, who is also head coach of the USA women’s team, will assist head coach Darren Lehmann alongside fellow assistants James Hopes, Ryan Harris and Gavin Fitness.

She has previously been in charge of Hobart Hurricanes in the Women’s Big Bash, where she was head coach for the first three years of the competition, as well as acting as a mentor to Tasmania in the Women’s National Cricket League. She also coached in Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands in the early stages of her career.

During her playing days, she won a pair of World Cup titles – in 1997 and 2005, while also playing 10 Tests and 84 ODIs.

She will join a star-studded talent roster at the Gabba, with Chris Lynn captaining a squad that will include – at different points in the tournament – AB de Villiers and Tom Banton, as well as Afghanistan spinners Zahir Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

“I'm pretty excited about that I have to admit,” Price said while commentating during the final of the women’s competition, which was won by Heat.

“I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to be around the guys and seeing how they do it differently to what the girls do.

“Having been in the Hurricanes set up for the WBBL, it will be interesting to see how the BBL does it.

“I had a bit to do with the Hurricanes boys but this will be a completely different level now. I can learn off both the players and the coaching staff.”

^{Price, alongside Mel Jones (left), won the Women's World Cup twice}

She will join the squad on New Year’s Day, with Harris departing the team to take control of Australia’s Under-19 World Cup side.

Lehmann added: “We'd been chatting about whether there were some professional development opportunities for her through her USA role and we just went from there.

“She has an excellent cricket brain and plenty of experience as a head coach, so I can see her fitting quite neatly into our set-up.

“We knew we had Ryan Harris with us for the start of the BBL before he goes to the U19 World Cup, but there was still a position available for us to fill on the coaching staff and we thought this was a great chance to innovate and think outside the box.

“I'm pleased the Heat have been able to go in a direction that we haven't seen yet in the BBL in having a woman on the coaching staff, but I don't believe it will be the last time it happens either.”

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