New South Wales rope in Michael Bevan and Shane Watson as coaching consultants to revive their fortunes

New South Wales failed to register a single win in the last edition of the Sheffield Shield. This happened for the first time since 1938-39 and hence, the management is under tremendous pressure. They have decided to change a lot of things in order to bring back the glory days and with that goal in mind, the think tank has signed former cricketers Shane Watson and Michael Bevan as their new coaching consultants.

They will be working alongside the head coach Greg Shipperd, who himself was rushed to take up the role after Cricket NSW sacked Phil Jaques mid-season last year. Meanwhile, as things stand, Bevan will be serving as the batting coach while Watson will be mentoring the cricketers. Other than these new developments, Moises Henriques has been named as the captain of all three formats of the game. 

Hence, ahead of the new season, CEO Lee Germon is delighted with the changes and expects the team to bounce back in the forthcoming year. He explained that the governing council was extremely unhappy with the performance in the last year and hence, they had to shake things up.

“No one at Cricket NSW was happy with what happened last season and we have now taken steps to turn things around, with the aim to build consistent success. All of these guys come with extremely accomplished resumes and they have NSW cricket and the Blues in their DNA. That will bring a renewed edge to our structure and the playing group," Lee was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

Bringing in world class skills of Bevan and Watson, we've added to off field support structure: Germon

Furthermore, discussing the steps taken in a bid to revive their fortunes in the upcoming Australian domestic season, Lee Germon said that having players with world-class experiences and skills in the form of Michael Bevan and Shane Watson will strengthen the support staff structure of New South Wales and will also pave the right path for youngsters to learn a great deal from the two Australia stalwarts.

“The program is now being led by Greg Mail and Greg Shipperd and the playing squad, led by Moises (Henriques), have knuckled down in the off-season and are determined to challenge for titles. Now, by bringing in the collective experience and world-class skills of Michael Bevan and Shane Watson, we have added to our off-field support structure,” Lee concluded.

Notably, New South Wales will play their first Shield match on October 4 against Queensland. They will play all their matches in Sydney this year, with three at the SCG and two at the state's new base at Olympic Park.