Cricket Scotland is pleased to announce the arrival of Keegan Russell to the Performance team in the role of National Performance Pathway Coach.

Keegan arrives in Scotland from New Zealand, where he's built up extensive coaching experience within the national coaching pathway as well as with Northern Districts and Southland. Some of his most recent roles include being Head Coach for New Zealand U19 Men's Maori, Northern Districts U17 Men's Coach and Head Coach for the Northern Districts U19 Women, as well as working with the Whiteferns and Northern Braves senior teams.

Keegan's appointment coincides with Kari Carswell assuming an expanded remit in a similar role as National Performance Pathway Coach with responsibility for the women's programme. Kari, who returned to Cricket Scotland nearly a year ago, recently led the Women's U19 squad at the ICC Women's U19 World Cup in Malaysia, where Scotland broke new ground by reaching the Super Six stage of the tournament for the first time ever.

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Gordon Drummond, Head of Performance Pathways, said:

"I'm delighted to welcome Keegan to Cricket Scotland, and I'd like to congratulate he and Kari on their new roles. These new Pathway roles will allow us to expand what we do - not just leading our two top youth teams through the World Cup cycles, but also supporting the other national Pathway squads and regional groups, as well as working with transition players which is a very important area of the development of the game.

"The roles also focus on coach education and development which is an area where we are focusing a lot more resource and support, so it's good to have that additional experience being brought into that area of the organisation.

"We've obviously got a big summer ahead for the Men's U19 squad, and then building over the next two years for the Women's squad, so it's great to have these positions filled which are much more substantial in supporting players during this period. I can't wait to see how Keegan and Kari's influence assists our men's and women's Pathway programmes in going from strength to strength, with hopefully many more World Cup appearances in the years to come."

Keegan said:

“I’m really excited to join Cricket Scotland, especially with an exciting period ahead for our Pathway players and the organisation. It’s great to know there’s a few mutual connections from Northern Districts here in Scotland, and a couple of characters and faces that are quite familiar, so I’m pleased to join the journey that the sport is on here and feel honoured and privileged to be part of it.

“We’ve got a challenging set of fixtures planned this summer with the U19 World Cup Qualifier here in Scotland being the pinnacle, and I’m looking forward to seeing our players express themselves and display their skills in that environment.

"I’m keen to establish a personal connection with all the players in our squad, and how we can best develop them in the long term, equipping them with the necessary skills and knowledge to transition into the next steps of their careers.

“I think it's important to try and bring a strong sense of alignment to the Pathway to what Doug and the senior team are working towards, embedding a clear cricketing identity within the age group space. I’m also looking forward to adding my own coaching style philosophy and perspective from a different country and background, combining that with the direction Cricket Scotland is heading in."

A busy summer lies in store for Keegan, who has already begun working with the Men's U19 squad as they begin to prepare for the ICC U19 Men's World Cup Qualifier in July and August, a tournament that will be hosted in Scotland. More details around the qualifier will be released in due course in partnership with ICC Europe.

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