Graeme West appointed as Cricket Ireland's director of high performance

The present Cricket West Indies (CWI) high-performance manager Graeme West is ready to take up the Director of High Performance role at Cricket Ireland (CI).

Graeme West will start the new role at Cricket Ireland next month. Although he hasn’t played any top-flight cricket, he has the Level 4 ECB Coaching qualification, which is the highest level. 

West was the coach of the West Indies U19 team during the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2016. In the final of that tournament, West Indies U19 team beat India U19 team by five wickets to win the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup tournament for the first time. 

During his early coaching career, West was the Academy Director of Middlesex County Cricket Club. During his tenure, he guided talented Irish youngsters like Andrew and Stuart Poynter, Paul Stirling, and Andrew Balbirnie. 

West started his journey for the CWI in 2012. He was the chief of the CWI High Performance Centre in Barbados. After working with the U19 and A teams, he started as the CWI High Performance Manager in Antigua. He was responsible for the expansion of the High Performance Pathway.

West designed the Academy programs to continue the growth of talented young players, elite coaches, and sports science staff across the region.

I am delighted to be joining Cricket Ireland: Graeme West

West is excited about his new role at Cricket Ireland. 

West stated, "I am delighted to be joining Cricket Ireland as the organisation continues to grow and strengthen. The Strategic Plan for 2024-27 is incredibly exciting and I look forward to applying my experience and philosophy to the wealth of talent and expertise that has been assembled as we further establish Ireland as a major cricketing nation."

On the other hand, the CEO of Cricket Ireland, Warren Deutrom, opened up reasons for Graeme West’s recruitment. 

Deutrom stated, "When we set out to create and recruit for the role, the profile, initiative and experience that Graeme possesses is exactly what we were looking for. We knew that in order to be successful in this new role, the candidate required leadership experience, exceptional people skills and the ability to be a mentor as much as a manager. In Graeme, we believe we have found that candidate.

"As an organisation, we are going through a process of reviewing and evolving our operations to ensure we are fit-for-purpose as a Full Member in a rapidly changing environment. One of the strategic decisions we made was to acknowledge the scale and scope of our work has outgrown our pre-Full Member structures."

Ireland men's team has a busy schedule in 2025

The Ireland men’s team will face South Africa in a two-match T20I and a three-match ODI series from September 27. 

The next calendar year, 2025, will be a busy year for the Ireland men’s team. After touring Zimbabwe in early 2025, Ireland will host the West Indies, England, and Afghanistan before their tour to Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. They will play two Tests against the hosts Zimbabwe, only one home Test against Afghanistan, and two Tests against the hosts Bangladesh.  

Meanwhile, Ireland Women’s team is hosting England Women in a three-match WODI series and a two-match WT20I series.