THE Sunfoil Dolphins have announced the appointment of Grant Morgan as the new head coach.
Morgan, who originally hails from Port Elizabeth, is one of the country’s most decorated coaches at amateur level and gained invaluable franchise experience during his time as assistant coach of the Warriors during the 2015/16 domestic season.
The 44 year-old’s distinguished amateur track record throughout South Africa, together with his strong ties to cricket in KwaZulu-Natal having been head coach of KZN Inland in 2012/13 and 2013/14, sees him take the reins of a franchise team for the first time full of confidence.
A product of Grey High School, Port Elizabeth and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Morgan enjoyed a strong career as a club and provincial player.
After making his debut for Eastern Province against England in 1993/94, he went on to earn a combined 52 First Class and 40 List A caps during his time at EP and Northerns.
With the transition into coaching starting during the twilight of his playing career already, taking on the role of player/coach at club level, Morgan made coaching his full focus upon his retirement in 2002. Morgan was recognised for his contribution at provincial level with the award in 2005 of the Khaya Majola Memorial Award for service both on and off the field to amateur cricket.
The experience and knowledge gained during his time as head coach of Northerns Cricket Academy, Tshwane University of Technology and University of Pretoria then saw him serve as Assistant Coach to Ray Jennings in the South Africa U19 setup that narrowly lost to India in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in Malaysia in 2007.
Morgan then served as National Academy head coach (2007 and 2008), head coach of the powerful Highveld Strikers (2008/09 to 2010/11) and NMMU’s National Club Championships winning side before taking control of the KZN Inland outfit.
The CSA level four accredited coach also served as Assistant Coach to the Royal Challengers Bangalore during the 2009 IPL and is a true product of the South African cricket system, now eager to make a strong contribution to the Sunfoil Dolphins setup.
Morgan will take office from 1 June, in time to start pre-season preparations with the members of the squad who are not currently playing overseas, while Sunfoil Dolphins caretaker coaches Roger Telemachus and Yashin Ebrahim will return to their posts as coach of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial side and the KZN Cricket Academy respectively.
