BBL title-winning coach Wade Seccombe quits his roles with Brisbane Heat, Queensland Bulls
Mar 20, 2024
Brisbane [Australia], March 20 : Big Bash League (BBL) title-winning coach Wade Seccombe has decided to leave his roles with the Brisbane Heat and the Queensland Bulls.
"Brisbane Heat championship coach and Queensland Bulls mentor Wade Seccombe will not seek reappointment to those roles ahead of the 2024-25 season," Queensland Bulls said in a statement.
Seccombe informed the club that he will not pursue a new contract for the 2024-25 season.
"Winning the BBL was huge goal of mine as a coach and a massive achievement for the club, and that is something that I will look back on with great pleasure down the track," Seccombe said in a statement released by Queensland Cricket on Wednesday.
"I said when I was reappointed a few years ago that there were several coaching goals I had set myself, with a BBL title and a chance to work with the Australian team again or internationally among the challenges that lay ahead for me. My family and I will take stock on things from here and see what opportunities may present themselves in the future. I am eternally grateful for their support and the success I have been fortunate to experience as a coach is due to them," he added.
Seccombe, who oversaw three championship-winning teams and two runners-up placings with either the Bulls or the Heat since commencing with Queensland Cricket in 2017, thanked his coaching and support staff for their unstinting efforts in assisting him as coach.
"We have been blessed to have some very talented and dedicated people working in Queensland Cricket and I sincerely thank those individuals who sacrificed much to give the playing group the chance to improve their skills and enjoy success," Seccombe said.
"I certainly thank the captains Usman Khawaja, Jimmy Peirson, Colin Munro, Nathan McSweeney and Marnus Labuschagne as well for their commitment to the squads and for working diligently to make the most of any chances when they came our way. We have an incredibly talented playing group and there are exciting times ahead for them. I wish them all the best for the future,'' he said.
Queensland Cricket's General Manager - Elite Teams, Performance and Pathways, Joe Dawes, thanked Seccombe for his dedication as coach and wished him the best with his future.
"Wade informed us that he would not be seeking a new contract, and he was upfront about his intentions once he had completed the various post-season reviews with players and staff," Dawes said.
"We will now go to market for the role of head coach of the Brisbane Heat and Queensland Bulls and are very confident that such a prime coaching role will attract some outstanding candidates who will relish the chance to work in this exciting program,'' Dawes added.
"Queensland Cricket thanks Wade and his family for their commitment on and off the field and we certainly wish him every success in his future endeavours. He will no doubt look back on the BBL title win this season with the satisfaction of a job well done," he said.
Seccombe was appointed Bulls coach in 2017 and took on the dual roles of head coach of the Heat and the Bulls in 2021 after guiding Queensland to their two most recent Marsh Sheffield Shield titles in 2017-18 and 2020-21. He played 101 Shield matches and captured 519 dismissals for Queensland in a career that spanned 13 years and was involved in the Bulls' ground-breaking maiden Shield title in 1995-96.
He stood behind the stumps for four more successful first class campaigns, including Queensland's hat-trick of titles from 1999-2000 to 2001-02.