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BJ Watling moved back from Wellington for family reasons, and will now take on the Northern Districts coaching role.
Black Caps great BJ Watling has been named coach of the Northern Districts men’s side from next season.
The 75-test former wicketkeeper/batter, who retired from the game following New Zealand’s World Test Championship victory in 2021, had spent time coaching ND A, then was white-ball coach for the Wellington Firebirds men this summer, but it was last month announced he would be heading home to Hamilton to be with his wife and children.
ND then announced on Friday that Watling, who made 243 appearances for the association across 17 seasons, would take over from former team-mate Graeme Aldridge, who will move into a bowling support role with New Zealand Cricket after 25 years’ service to ND in both playing and coaching roles (head coach the past three seasons).
“I’m extremely excited to take on this role,” Watling said. “ND has played a huge part in my playing career and I’m looking forward to continuing my journey with the association as a coach.
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“I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Wellington, I was fortunate to have a supportive and welcoming group of players and staff and will always be grateful for the opportunity.
“G [Aldridge] has left some big shoes to fill and I look forward to that challenge and adding my own value along the way. ND have certainly been leaders on and off the field for a number of years and I’m extremely proud to be able to play my part now.
“With a number of Black Caps and talented up-and-coming cricketers, it’s an exciting time for the group as we look to continue to build on the success over recent years.”
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ND general manager high performance, Ian Sandbrook, said Aldridge had been instrumental in shaping an environment which fostered a team-first mentality and which saw the Northern Brave capture back-to-back Super Smash T20 titles the past two seasons, leaving a great platform to launch from for Watling who was the standout candidate after “a thorough and competitive appointment process”.
“We believe BJ has the skills, experience and characteristics to take our men’s performance programme forward,” he said. “He knows and understands our playing group and what it means to represent ND.
“He also has impressive clarity on how we can continue to remain at the forefront of player development and consistently perform across all formats.
“We know BJ will bring a great freshness, drive and competitiveness, and we cannot wait to start working with him.”
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