Jordan Buckingham backs Ryan Harris for the South Australia’s coaching seat
The team needs a coach after Jason Gillespie stepped down from the position
Rising star Jordan Buckingham is a strong advocate for Ryan Harris to fill the South Australian men’s team coaching vacancy left by Jason Gillespie. Buckingham, a fast bowler himself, had the chance to work with Harris last summer when Harris served as an assistant coach for South Australia.
Their collaboration was fruitful, with Buckingham crediting Harris’s coaching for improvements in his technique and tactics, which are crucial for Buckingham’s goal of becoming an all-format player.
Buckingham, known for his aggressive bowling style, sees a strong resemblance between his approach and Harris’s during his playing career, where Harris excelled in both Tests (27 appearances) and limited-overs internationals.
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This shared perspective has allowed Buckingham to fully embrace Harris’s guidance, which included minor adjustments to Buckingham’s bowling action.
“A couple of action tweaks, a couple of mindset things,” Buckingham said when asked about the major input from Harris since he joined the SA set-up last year.
“I think we were both pretty passionate on the field, so a big one was controlling my emotions a little bit because he was quite a similar bowler and quite a similar operator in a few ways.
“For me, it’s just having little catch-ups with him now and then and making sure we’re staying on top of things on the field but also off the field.”
While Jordan Buckingham strongly endorses Ryan Harris for the vacant South Australian head coach position, the decision is far from finalized. Here’s a closer look at Harris’s background and the current situation surrounding the coaching role.
Following Jason Gillespie’s departure to become Pakistan’s Test supremo earlier this year, Ryan Harris currently holds the position of interim head coach for the South Australian men’s team. This interim role comes after Harris served as an assistant coach for South Australia last summer, where he directly collaborated with young talents like Buckingham.
Harris’s coaching career began after a successful playing career was cut short by knee injuries in 2015. He transitioned smoothly, starting with Australia’s under-19 men’s team. This experience was followed by stints as the Test bowling coach for the national team and the Queensland pathways manager. Notably, his return to Adelaide, his hometown, coincides with this current opportunity with South Australia.
While silverware remained elusive during Gillespie’s tenure, South Australia did witness the development of a formidable pace bowling attack. This group includes Buckingham himself, alongside Brendan Doggett, Wes Agar, Spencer Johnson, and Nathan McAndrew. Harris’s expertise as a former fast bowler could prove invaluable in further nurturing this talented group.
With the recent appointment of Simon Insley, formerly the New Zealand men’s team high-performance manager, as South Australia’s general manager of cricket, a decision on the permanent head coach position is expected soon. This decision will determine who takes over Gillespie’s roles not only with the state team but also with the Adelaide Strikers in the KFC BBL.
“I think he could be the right man for the job if it did fall that way,” Buckingham said in backing Harris’s credentials for the head coach’s role.
“I don’t get a say in that one, but his knowledge is second to none and the things he says go a long way.
“He’s fresh out of the game, he’s a very passionate and motivated man.
“So if the job did fall his way I have absolutely no doubt he’d grab the opportunity with both hands and go well, and lead the state of South Australia to success.”
Jordan Buckingham’s decision to join the Adelaide Strikers for BBL|14 goes beyond just cricket. It’s a story of loyalty to his adopted state and a chance to finally showcase his white-ball skills.
While Buckingham had brief stints with both the Strikers (2022-23) and the eventual BBL|13 champions, the Brisbane Heat, in neither team did he manage to secure his first T20 appearance. This lack of playing time didn’t dampen his enthusiasm, however.
Buckingham’s talent with the white ball was evident during the Marsh One Day Cup last summer. Representing South Australia, he bagged an impressive nine wickets in just three games, even grabbing the competition’s best bowling figures (6-41 against Queensland).
Interestingly, the uncertainty surrounding the coaching positions at both the Strikers and the Heat likely played a role in Buckingham’s decision. When he signed with the Strikers, they hadn’t yet named a permanent replacement for Jason Gillespie, who had just left for the Pakistan Test coach position. Similarly, the Heat, who have since appointed Johan Botha as their new coach, were also without confirmed leadership at the time of Buckingham’s negotiations.
This lack of a definitive coaching structure at either team seemingly didn’t faze Buckingham. His loyalty to South Australia, coupled with the potential to finally break into a T20 team, likely played a bigger role in his decision to join the Adelaide Strikers.
“Last year I went away and got a bit of a different experience at the Brisbane Heat and ended up going pretty well team-wise,” Buckingham said.
“But it’s always been a dream of mine since coming over to South Australia to become a full-time South Australian cricketer and joining up with the Strikers is allowing that to happen.
“I see Adelaide Oval as a beautiful place to bowl and certainly think at the Strikers there might be some room there at some point, whether it’s at the start of the tournament or during the tournament, to squeeze in and hopefully hold my own.
“I feel like in the last one or two seasons I’ve come a long way in white-ball cricket.
“I played the three one-dayers and went OK for SA this year but I’d like to think that up top I can swing the new ball and hopefully generate some early wickets for the team.
“And then towards the back end I feel like I can back my death bowling in now, I’ve been doing it in the nets for the last one or two Big Bash seasons trying to get into a team.”
While his ultimate dream lies in wearing the Baggy Green and playing Test cricket for Australia, Buckingham isn’t solely focused on the red-ball game. Despite not yet having played a senior T20 match, he has a fire burning to prove his abilities in the shorter format as well.
” Obviously I started in the red-ball team (in 2022) and didn’t quite break into the white-ball team until the back end of last season,” he said.
“At some points, there was probably a small fear that I thought I may have been pigeon-holed and I was going to be a red-ball bowler for life.
“But opportunities open up and things happen quite quickly, so to get out there and impress with a white-ball and to hopefully do it in front of big (BBL) crowds at Adelaide Oval would be top of the bucket list for me.
“In this day and age, you want to keep your options open.
“I’m loving my red-ball cricket at the moment and I’d love to play Test cricket for Australia one day, without a doubt that’s always been a dream of mine.
“But if that happens, and then I can also juggle white-ball commitments on the side and potentially play a bit of franchise cricket down the track and perhaps make a living out of that, that would be nice.”
