Heinrich Malan has been confirmed as the next Irish men's national cricket team head coach on an initial three-year contract.
The South African-born coach will succeed Graham Ford, taking up the role in March, subject to the approval of a work permit.
Malan has been head coach of the Auckland Aces in New Zealand since 2019 after six-years at Central District Stags, as well as holding previous coaching experience in South Africa, where he played first-class cricket.
Ford stepped down as Ireland head coach after four years in charge last November, in the wake of the T20 World Cup exit to Zimbabwe, saying the national side "faced many handicaps and challenges" in comparison to their rival full ICC members.
Malan paid tribute to Ford as his appointment as successor was announced.
"It's very humbling and a huge honour to be appointed Head Coach of the Ireland Men’s team. We have an exciting squad that has demonstrated that they have the ability to compete with the best players around the world. It is an exciting challenge and something that we, as a family, are really looking forward to," he said.
"A lot of credit has to go to Graham Ford, who has done a stellar job over the last four years. We have some serious building blocks in place which I believe we can build on going forward."
The 40-year-old added: "The 'wheel' in Irish cricket is turning nicely for the stage it is at, but this point in time is a great opportunity to review what - and how - we are operating to not only grow the wheel, but make that wheel turn quicker."
Ireland became a test-playing nation in 2017, and High Performance Director Richard Holdsworth expects Malan to help them become a more competitive side.
"He fully understands the development stage we are at as a new Full Member, and is clear on the goals of the organisation," Holdsworth said.
Holdsworth said the tour of Zimbabwe in April would be the first target for Malan.
"We know that a key focus for us in the short-term is white-ball cricket, and it is the insights, experience and success that Heinrich has garnered in the shorter formats that we believe will benefit our squad greatly," he said.
"We look forward to Heinrich starting in March, with his first task being to prepare the squad for the Zimbabwe tour."
