Julia Price becomes first female coach in men's Big Bash as Brisbane Heat assistant
Darren Lehmann hails USA coach's "excellent cricket brain"
ESPNcricinfo staff
08-Dec-2019
Julia Price spent three seasons coaching Hobart Hurricanes in the WBBL • Getty Images
Julia Price, the USA women's coach and former Australia wicketkeeper, will work with the Brisbane Heat in the upcoming men's Big Bash League, becoming the first female coach in the competition.
Price, who previously spent three seasons coaching Hobart Hurricanes in the WBBL, will work as an assistant to Darren Lehmann once Ryan Harris departs at the start of next year while on Under-19 World Cup duties with Australia.
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Price was understood to have been a contender for the England women's role after Mark Robinson's departure, but that position has since been filled by Lisa Keightley.
"I'm pretty excited about [the role], I have to admit," Price said while on commentary during the WBBL final on Sunday.
"I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to be around the guys and seeing how they do it differently to what the girls do.
"Having been in the Hurricanes set up for the WBBL, it will be interesting to see how the BBL does it. I had a bit to do with the Hurricanes boys but this will be a completely different level now … I can learn off both the players and the coaching staff."
Lehmann said that Price has an "excellent cricket brain", and suggested she would have no trouble fitting into the new environment.
"We'd been chatting about whether there were some professional development opportunities for her through her USA role and we just went from there," he said.
"She has an excellent cricket brain and plenty of experience as a head coach, so I can see her fitting quite neatly into our set-up.
"We knew we had Ryan Harris with us for the start of the BBL before he goes to the U19 World Cup, but there was still a position available for us to fill on the coaching staff and we thought this was a great chance to innovate and think outside the box.
"I'm pleased the Heat have been able to go in a direction that we haven't seen yet in the BBL in having a woman on the coaching staff, but I don't believe it will be the last time it happens either."