Damien Wright is coming back to where it all started. The former fast bowler will take charge of Tasmania’s quicks in the Sheffield Shield and One-Day Cup after finishing a short stint with the West Indies women at the T20 World Cup.
Wright’s playing career is woven tightly into Tasmanian cricket folklore. In the 2006-07 Shield final he grabbed eight wickets and chipped in with a punchy 67, a match that delivered the state’s first title. That side has proved a fertile breeding ground for coaches; nine players from it are now employed around Australia, among them national men’s bowling coach Adam Griffith, selector George Bailey and batting mentors Michael Di Venuto and Dan Marsh. Wright will work alongside several of them again.
“Cricket Tasmania has always held a special place in my heart,” Wright said. “The Tigers have played such an important role in my life, both professionally and personally, and I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to return. I can’t wait to reconnect with the players and staff and continue to build something special for Tasmania.”
The 48-year-old is no stranger to the coaching chair. He steered Hobart Hurricanes for four BBL campaigns from 2013 to 2017, reaching a first final in his maiden season. This time, though, he will focus solely on state duties under head coach Jeff Vaughan. The BBL job falls to someone else.
That someone is Shawn Bradstreet, named Hurricanes bowling coach after roles with Sydney Thunder and New South Wales ended last summer. A former right-armer for the Blues, Bradstreet worked under Trevor Bayliss and Greg Shipperd and more recently teamed up with Ricky Ponting at Washington Freedom in Major League Cricket. Ponting, now the Hurricanes’ head of strategy, clearly values the partnership.
Tasmania and Hurricanes high-performance boss Salliann Beams welcomed the appointment. “Bradstreet is highly regarded for his technical bowling expertise, tactical understanding of the game and his ability to build strong relationships with players and staff,” she said.
The dual announcements plug the gap left by James Hopes, who swapped Hobart for the head-coach post at Sydney Sixers earlier in the month. For Tasmania, securing Wright feels like a homecoming; for the Hurricanes, Bradstreet offers fresh eyes and a track record of nurturing young pace talent.
Plenty of work lies ahead. Tasmania, Shield winners in 2012-13, have hovered mid-table of late, while the Hurricanes have never lifted the BBL trophy. Whether old faces such as Wright or fresh voices like Bradstreet can shift those narratives remains to be seen, yet both moves carry a quiet logic rather than headline-grabbing glamour—just how Tasmanians tend to like it.
