UP Warriorz have confirmed that head coach Jon Lewis will not return for the 2026 Women’s Premier League season, drawing a line under a relationship that began when the tournament launched in 2023.
“We’re grateful for Jon’s commitment and wish him well in his next chapter,” the franchise said in a brief statement on Friday. Lewis, for his part, noted, “I’ve loved working with this group and believe the foundations are there for future success.”
The split comes after a difficult 2025 campaign in which the Warriorz, captained for much of the season by stand-in skipper Deepti Sharma after Alyssa Healy’s late injury, finished bottom of the table with three wins from eight. It was a second straight dip: they ended fourth in 2024, having reached the play-offs in the inaugural edition a year earlier.
Taken together, Lewis’ record reads nine wins from 25 matches. A single-season high point remains the 225 for 5 the side rattled up against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in February—a WPL record the batting unit still proudly owns.
Lewis, 48, had been juggling the Warriorz job with the England Women’s role he accepted in late 2022. He vacated the national post in March, shortly after Australia swept the women’s Ashes 16–0 on points. At the time he stressed a desire to “prioritise clarity in my coaching future,” and today’s decision seems a logical extension of that call.
Former England seamer and long-serving Gloucestershire stalwart, Lewis carried his county nous into coaching appointments at Sussex, the ECB performance pathway and, briefly, the men’s T20I set-up. His reputation for player-led environments made him an intriguing hire when the WPL began.
What next for the Warriorz? The franchise has yet to outline a replacement, but analysts expect the management to court a coach with recent franchise-league success. As former India all-rounder Snehal Pradhan observed on an ESPN panel, “The talent is there—what they need now is a consistent voice to knit it together.”
For Lewis, doors remain open on both sides of the globe. “He has the experience to slot into any elite environment,” former England selector Angus Fraser told BBC Radio. “A short break and he’ll be in demand again.”
