KARACHI: Former Irish cricketer Catherine Dalton became the first female coach in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) history as she joined Multan Sultans as fast-bowling coach, ESPN Cricinfo reported on Tuesday.
Dalton also became the first female fast-bowling coach of any top-level men’s side. The official announcement of her appointment will be announced later today.
Catherine Dalton, 30, born in England, acquired Irish nationality in 2015 and later went on to represent them in four WODIs and as many WT20Is.
She has visited Pakistan twice and also worked with a number of local pacers, including Mohammad Ilyas, Sameen Gul, and Arshad Iqbal, as well as a number of Under-19 athletes.
Notably, Catherine Dalton is an England Cricket Board (ECB)-certified Level 3 Advanced Coach, having previously held coaching positions in the national fast-bowling academy in the UK and the Ultimate Pace Foundation in India.
“Having worked in Pakistan with some of the Multan Sultan players on two previous visits, I am really thrilled to be officially joining up with the franchise at the PSL,” Dalton told ESPNcricinfo.
“It’s not lost on me the ground-breaking moment for a female fast-bowling coach to be working in a major men’s T20 franchise. I am very humbled by the opportunity and cannot wait to hopefully help make a difference on multiple levels.
Multan Sultans’ owner Ali Tareen expressed her pleasure in acquiring the services of Catherine Dalton as his team’s fast-bowling coach.
“Catherine has been part of our player-development programme for almost five years now. I have seen how she has improved players first hand. I always knew she would become a fast-bowling coach at a high level,” Ali Tareen said.
“And I am so glad that her first opportunity came at the Sultans,” he added.
It is worth mentioning here that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), confirmed last month that the ninth edition of the PSL will run from February 8 to March 24.
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