Ireland coach Heinrich Malan: 'It's about inquisitively asking questions and getting people to think differently'
With 15 home games this summer, Ireland's new coach is hoping the players get plenty of experience ahead of the T20 World Cup

Heinrich Malan: "Ultimately it's not about telling them, it's about getting them to figure it out" • Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images
More than anything, what really gets me up in the morning is when I look at their potential. They have made huge strides over the last five-six years, and have also become a Full Member. It's understandable that there is going to be a little bit of transition. We haven't played any red-ball cricket for a period of time, which will be a challenge. But in the same breath, we need to use the work we've done in the white-ball space as a springboard to be consistent across formats. We can keep building on the white-ball success and lay foundations in place for some red-ball cricket.
You've seen over the qualifying period - people like Paul Stirling, Andy Balbirnie, Josh Little and Andy McBrine all played their part. But it was also really exciting to see how different players stepped up at different times. Even in the [qualifying] semi-final [against Oman], Stirling and Balbirnie didn't really get going, and we had Gareth Delany and Harry Tector coming to the fore [after Ireland were 19 for 2].
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We've got West Indies and Scotland [in our group], and we'll be waiting to see what it [finally] looks like and who comes out of the second qualifying tournament [World Cup Qualifiers B, to be played in Zimbabwe in July]. It's a huge possibility that it could be Zimbabwe. The Ireland side has shown that it can beat Full-Member nations. A year ago they beat South Africa and England [in 2020]. The expectation is always going to be there for us to win as many games as possible, but it's also about making sure we follow the structure we want to play and the brand of cricket we want to build. Ireland have shown that they can compete - they just beat West Indies [in an ODI series].
That's something we've really wanted to give some attention to. It's about trying to find ways for our players to get exposed to those leagues, because the quicker we can get them there, the more experience they'll bring back. We've seen that with Paul Stirling and Josh Little playing in the Sri Lanka league.
It's playing more consistent cricket, which is key. You've seen from a selection point of view that it's the same names in that ODI side who have played over a couple of years now. And when players play, they gain the experience to play what's in front of them as opposed to trying to show that they can play. And that's a huge difference - once players go and play for the team, they play the situation, which you can only have once you play regularly.
As much as it is a challenge, that's the stuff we as coaches talk about most of the time - being adaptable, versatile and agile. We don't know how much cricket we are going to play. We have to be ready to play what's in front of us.
Yeah, 100%. The way it has been structured is that if you finish in a certain spot, you automatically qualify. It's becoming more and more important because then you know how to prepare for the upcoming tournament. You don't have to go to the qualifier, which is cut-throat. There are a few players in our squad who, over the next four years or so, will play a lot for Ireland, and hopefully these experiences over the last 18-24 months will stand us in good stead once we get down to Australia, and when we hopefully qualify for the 2023 one-day World Cup.
It's well documented that Covid and the [bad] financial times have put a bit of a constraint around the focus area. There's obviously been a real focus from a white-ball point of view. But it's also for us as an organisation to think outside the box on how we best use our funding, get more players to consistently play three- or four-day cricket.
There's a lot of white-ball cricket going on, and that's what the ICC is trying to use to grow the game. The overarching thing is the challenge around making sure that we keep pushing for more longer day games for players to grow and be competitive. Just like we've seen in the white-ball space, where your so-called Associates or lesser nations have shown they can beat some bigger teams. It's because they've had more exposure. If we can replicate that in the red-ball space - whatever that looks like - it'll be a win-win.
The Wolves - the Ireland A side - is becoming a real focus. We've highlighted the need to create a bigger pool of players. We've got to use our home internationals, building up to the T20 World Cup as preparation. We've also got to make sure that we keep challenging the way we go about building that squad. There's still a lot of work to be done.
It's about understanding the way we want to play. Whether we are in trouble early on or whether we've got a really good start, players understand the way we want to operate. They can take ownership of that and keep each other accountable. It's also through playing and getting the opportunity consistently.
Curtis Campher and Josh Little have already shown they can play and compete at this level. They are relatively young. Neil Rock, Ben White and Josh Delany have all started to show that they've got the ability to perform. Craig Young and Simi Singh, over the last 12-18 months in ODI cricket, have shown the ability to be prolific.
It's the individual piece that is more intriguing for me. What can I help a player with that's going to make him understand or connect to something, or want to do something differently? Sometimes that's biomechanical, sometimes that's stats-driven, and sometimes it's the understanding of the physical side of things. That's the exciting thing for me now to get into the environment of the Ireland and Wolves space - to get to know players, what makes them tick, and then start working towards challenging different people to be their best.
There's numerous examples we can look at on how stats analysis or data analysis could come in and create opportunities. The match-ups, understanding conditions, and how does that impact the game formats or our game systems.
And that's the thing I like. You talk about targets as an example. If we've got to get 200 in a T20 game, some players want to know exactly how many we need to have at the end of the six-over powerplay. And there are players who are the total opposite: they just want to go out there and experience it themselves. It's about trying to find the balance, and we play a huge role in that. It's not about "This is the way we are going to do it." It's rather about "This is what's in front of us, and you tell us how you're going to do it." The "what" and "how" is a huge part of my philosophy.
I read that the only constant in planning is that it's ever evolving. That's something I've learnt massively over the last ten years - that you plan to change. A real strength of mine is being planned and organised. At the start of my coaching career, I almost felt like the world comes to an end when something has to change, whereas now that I've got the blueprint in my head or on paper, if things need to change, I'm really happy to change because I know where I'm trying to go to because I've got the plan.
I've spoken to them, plus other players and support staff. Unfortunately, I'm a pretty diligent player organiser, which, to my detriment, doesn't allow me a lot of sleep! Then subtly, over time, once I've got my feet under the table, I build those relationships, start having a bit of influence and some more challenging conversations.
Himanshu Agrawal is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo