South African Johan Botha to take charge of Queensland Bulls and Brisbane Heat

New Queensland Bulls and Brisbane Heat mentor Johan Botha has paid homage to Dean Jones for shaping his coaching career, saying the departed Australian cricketing great taught him to “trust players”.

Former South Africa one-day international skipper Botha was on Tuesday confirmed as coach of the Bulls and the Heat for the next three years.

Botha takes over both jobs from Wade Seccombe, who quit in March after reportedly being asked to reapply for the positions despite guiding the Heat to the 2023-24 BBL title.

The 42-year-old Botha captained South Africa in 10 limited-overs matches and also played five Tests for the Proteas.

He also played 71 BBL games for the Adelaide Strikers, Sydney Sixers, and Hobart Hurricanes.

Botha, who reportedly edged out former England all-rounder Adam Hollioake and ex-Queensland paceman Ashley Noffke for the Bulls and Heat jobs, has also had coaching roles at a host of T20 franchises around the world.

It was an early coaching stint in the Pakistan Super League with former Australian players Jones, who passed away aged 59 in 2020, and Tom Moody that had a huge influence on Botha.

The way Jones dealt with English opener Alex Hales in a similar manner to legendary Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson’s handling of the volatile Denis Rodman – who was allowed to go on short trips to Vegas during the NBA season to blow off some steam – hit home with Botha.

“He was great with just relating to players,” Botha said.

“He almost did a Phil Jackson-Dennis Rodman scenario once. He let Alex Hales go back to Dubai for five days and I said ‘Deano, what are you doing? He’s never going to come back, but he said just trust me, he’ll come back and he’ll make some runs’. And that’s exactly what he did.

“That was a great example to trust your players and I thought “I’m not sure if I could have done it at that point’, but I trusted him.

“He was the man in charge, and sure enough, ‘Halesy’ came back and he made some runs for us.”

Botha said Jones was “so far ahead of his generation”.

“He understood T20 cricket. He never played it, but he just understood it,” he said.“It was great time to learn from them (Jones and Moody) at the start of my career. I’ve had some really good coaches.”

Botha said he had an “incredible opportunity with the playing talent and experience that the two squads will be able to call upon”.

“The Bulls have strong ties to success, and I have no doubt the playing group already aspire to be deeply competitive this summer,” he said.

“The Heat were skilful and professional on the way to their BBL title and have an enviable base to pursue new challenges in the coming seasons.”

Queensland Cricket head of elite cricket Joe Dawes said Botha was at the “cutting edge of the game internationally”.

“Johan is a fiercely motivated and determined person and has consistently displayed those traits during his playing and coaching career,’’ Dawes said.

“He will bring a fresh and dynamic outlook to our organisation and especially the Bulls and championship Brisbane Heat squads.”