NSW Cricket chief executive Lee Germon has opened up on the “difficult” process of switching out the Blues coaching staff towards the back-end of the season, adding it has been a “challenging period” for the organisation.
On Wednesday morning, Cricket NSW confirmed that former Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin had been appointed as the new Blues coach, replacing Greg Shipperd in the role.
The announcement comes less than 24 hours after Shipperd’s final day in charge of NSW, with the Blues’ Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia at Cricket Central finishing as a tense draw on Tuesday afternoon.
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“When you go through a decision like this, there’s never a perfect way to roll it out,” Germon told reporters in Sydney on Wednesday.
“It’s been a difficult time in many ways for Greg and the coaching staff and others involved. I have to give Greg and the coaching staff credit, they’ve done a very good job seeing out the season with the Blues.
“It’s been a challenging period and process, but I’m hugely excited where we’ve ended up now with Brad as the new Blues coach.”
In June last year, Cricket NSW revealed in a statement that it was “thrilled” that Shipperd had put pen to paper on a two-year extension, keeping him at the Blues and the Sydney Sixers through to the end of the 2026/27 season. However, seven months later, the Blues and Sixers announced they would part ways with the “incredibly disappointed” 69-year-old at the end of the summer.
Asked whether the two-year contract extension was a mistake, Germon confessed that “a one-year extension might have been better”.
“In hindsight, you can always look at your decisions,” he explained.
“The two-year extension occurred at a time when we had seen progress in the team. Bear in mind where Greg and his support team came into the Blues, it was at the bottom of things.
“They stabilised the team well, and there was good reason to have that trajectory continue, but the expectation with that extension was that we wanted to move from competing to really challenging and winning titles and winning matches.
“The decision was made when we didn’t see that trajectory occur.”
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In January, Germon said in a statement that the decision to part ways with Shipperd was “to give the Blues and Sixers the best chance to win titles”, but the comments came back to bite him when NSW lifted the Dean Jones Trophy after defeating Tasmania in last week’s rain-affected One-Day final in Hobart.
However, Germon declared that he has “no regrets at all” about his prior comments.
“The line was about sustained success,” he said.
“That’s what we’re trying to get to, the next level, getting us to win titles consistently.”
The Blues celebrated their One-Day Cup triumph at a Hobart karaoke bar, with the outgoing coach belting out a rendition of Elton John’s ‘I’m Still Standing’. The song’s lyrics include: “And did you think this fool could never win? Well, look at me, I’m coming back again.”
Following the One-Day Cup triumph, Shipperd revealed that negotiations regarding the circumstances of his termination were ongoing, adding that he hopes it “doesn’t get messy”. Germon refused to comment on any of the contractual discussions.
Haddin presented to the Cricket NSW Board for the vacant coaching gig at Silverwater’s Cricket Central on Monday evening, upstairs from where the Blues were playing a Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia.
Fox Cricket revealed that Shipperd walked past the room’s glass panel holding the Dean Jones Trophy on multiple occasions during the meeting, a light-hearted parting jab at the Cricket NSW Board.
“I didn’t see Greg parading the trophy,” Germon said with a smile.
Elsewhere, Germon confirmed that NSW assistant coaches Sean Bradstreet and Ellie de Winter had also been stood down, with the duo informed of the decision on Tuesday, the final day of the Blues’ match against Western Australia. According to reports, Nicholas Bertus, Daniel Smith, and Peter Forrest will take over as the team’s new assistant coaches.
“I have great respect and admiration for the way they’ve conducted themselves through the post-Christmas period,” Germon said of Bradstreet and de Winter.
“They’ve supported Greg and the team exceptionally well. Unfortunately they will be leaving us and we’ll support them through that process.”
Asked about the timing of the sacking – which former Blues spinner Stephen O’Keefe described as “absolutely brutal” – Germon explained that Haddin was scheduled to fly to India for the Indian Premier League on Thursday, with Cricket NSW needing to announce his appointment before he departs the country.
“It’s very difficult to find a perfect time to have these conversations,” he elaborated.
“We go into these discussions with honesty and respect and try to find the best window to have them, the best time to have them.”
He continued: “There has been quite a lot of speculation about who the Blues coach is going to be. We wanted to try and see the season out and then end (that speculation) as quickly after that.”
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