Luke Williams To Be Appointed As RCB Head Coach For WPL - Reports

Former South Australia cricketer Luke Williams, who played first-class cricket between 2000 and 2005, is all set to become the new head coach of the Royal Challengers Bangalore Women (RCB-W) in the Women’s Premier League (WPL), according to reports.

RCB-W had an awful campaign in the inaugural edition of the tournament despite building a star-studded line-up at the auction. They had players like Smriti Mandhana, Sophie Devine, Ellyse Perry, and Heather Knight in the squad but still, they lost their first five games of the season, before winning two of their last three matches.

Following the disappointing season, the RCB bosses have decided to make changes to their coaching staff just like they did in the men’s side of things, according to a report in ESPNcricinfo. Notably, Andy Flower replaced Sanjay Bangar as the head coach of RCB’s men’s team and Mike Hesson is no longer the director of cricket of the side.

Luke Williams To Replace Ben Sawyer As Head Coach Of RCB For WPL

The same report suggests that the current head coach of RCB in the Women’s Premier League (WPL), Ben Sawyer, will not return next year for the job and Luke Williams will be taking over that role.

Williams brings a plethora of experience as a coach as he has won multiple championships with women’s teams across the globe. He has worked with Adelaide Strikers in the WBBL as head coach, with Southern Brave in the Women’s Hundred as an assistant coach, and with South Australian Scorpions in the Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL).

He coached Adelaide Strikers to their maiden championship win in the WBBL in the 2022-23 season and was part of the coaching staff when Southern Brave won their championship in the Women’s Hundred in 2023.

Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians won the inaugural edition of the WPL after their dominant performance in the competition. They finished second on the points table with an equal number of wins (6) as Delhi Capitals and then beat them in the final to clinch the title. UP Warriorz finished third with 4 wins and Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Giants were in fourth and fifth position respectively after winning just two games each.