Johan Botha named as the new coach of the Brisbane Heat and Queensland

Former South Africa limited-overs captain Johan Botha has been appointed as the new head coach of BBL reigning champions Brisbane Heat and Queensland state cricket for the next three years.

Botha, 42, has been appointed following the departure of Wade Seccombe. He has previous head coaching experience in the PSL, CPL and ILT20. Queensland WNCL and Brisbane Heat women's coach Ashley Noffke and former England all-rounder Adam Hollioake were also in the running for the job.

Speaking in Brisbane on Tuesday following his appointment, Botha said he already had some pre-existing relationships with Queensland and Heat players. He had played with Michael Neser at Adelaide Strikers and coached Colin Munro in the PSL, but had also played against many of the players during his career. He said the players should be aware that his style is different from his approach as a player, having coached Usman Khawaja at Islamabad United:

"I think chatting to him [Khawaja] during PSL and post PSL he just said to me, he was so surprised at how different I was as a coach to a player. I think he's had a little taste of me. Hopefully, he's spread that to the group that what you played against is a little bit different, which I think is a good thing."

Botha is an Australian citizen, having moved to Adelaide in 2012 to play full-time for South Australia, effectively ending his international career with South Africa after playing five Tests, 78 ODIs and 40 T20Is, including captaining his country in 21 white-ball matches.

He captained South Australia in the Sheffield Shield and Marsh Cup for two years before stepping down midway through the 2014-15 season to allow Travis Head to take over. Botha also has extensive BBL experience, having played 71 games for the Adelaide Strikers, Sydney Sixers and Hobart Hurricanes. He retired abruptly in 2019 to take up a coaching opportunity in the PSL but came out of retirement to fill in during the Covid-ravaged 2020-21 season.

Botha has amassed a wealth of coaching experience around the world in recent years. He has been the head coach of three PSL teams - Multan Sultans, Karachi Kings and Islamabad United. He also coached Guyana Amazon Warriors in the CPL, leading them to the final in 2019 with a unique spin-heavy side.

He was head coach of Sharjah Warriors in the ILT20 last season, although they finished bottom, and was assistant coach of Seattle Orcas in the MLC when they finished runners-up last year. He was also an assistant coach with Strikers in the BBL in 2022-23.