London [UK], February 2 (ANI): Former Australian cricketer Mike Hussey was named the new head coach of the Welsh Fire's men's team in the Hundred.

Gary Kirsten stated in December that he would not return to head the team for a third season following two disastrous campaigns. They finished seventh out of eight in the Hundred's first season of 2021, before finishing last without winning a single game in 2022.

Hussey, who is thought to have defeated compatriots David Saker and Adam Voges to the job, has franchise experience, having played for the Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians before returning to Chennai as a coach. For English cricket, he was most famously in charge of the batting as part of Matthew Mott's backroom team during the winning T20 World Cup campaign in Australia.

The ECB hopes that the signing of Hussey also known as 'Mr Cricket' can help the struggling Fire. The women's team has also underperformed, finishing seventh twice in a row.

Hussey will begin his job ahead of Deadline Day (when the ten men's players retained from the 2021 squad must be decided) and will oversee the men's draught, in which the Fire have the first pick.

"I'm really looking forward to getting started at Welsh Fire and being part of the Hundred. From a distance, it looks like a fantastic competition to be involved in, attracting big crowds and getting lots of kids interested in the game. For my part, hopefully, I can get help get things moving in the right direction on the pitch in Cardiff and give all of those fans who've been coming to watch something to really get excited about," Hussey said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

Mark Wallace, cricket manager of Welsh Fire, said, "We're thrilled to be able to appoint someone of the calibre of Mike. There are few better people around the world with the relevant expertise and knowledge of white-ball cricket to help take us forward. It's really exciting to have him on board, and we look forward to working together to hopefully bring some on-field success to the team and our fans." (ANI)