Graham Xavier Ford (born 16 November 1960) is a South African cricket coach and former

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er. Formerly the head coach of the

Sri Lankan national cricket team The Sri Lanka men's national cricket team, (; ) nicknamed The Lions, represents Sri Lanka in men's international cricket. It is a full Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) with Test cricket, Test, One-Day International (ODI) and T ...

, he was also the head coach of the

Ireland cricket team The Ireland men's cricket team represents All-Ireland in international cricket. The Irish Cricket Union, operating under the brand Cricket Ireland, is the sport's governing body in Ireland, and they organise the international team. The team ha ...

. A right-handed batsman, he played 7 games for Natal B in his career despite playing his last game seven years after his debut in 1982/83. He was a good allrounder sportsman, being a former provincial tennis champion and representing Natal at football. Ford is also a qualified rugby union referee.

Cricket coaching career

In 1992 he became coach of

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

where he enjoyed the services of

Malcolm Marshall Malcolm Denzil Marshall (18 April 1958 – 4 November 1999) was a Barbadian cricketer. Primarily a fast bowler, Marshall is widely regarded as one of the greatest and one of the most accomplished fast bowlers of the modern era in Test cricket ...

Clive Rice Clive Edward Butler Rice (23 July 1949 – 28 July 2015) was a South African international cricketer. An all-rounder, Rice ended his First Class cricket career with a batting average of 40.95 and a bowling average of 22.49. He captained Notti ...

Shaun Pollock Shaun Maclean Pollock (born 16 July 1973) is a South African cricket commentator and former cricketer, who was captain in all formats of the game. A bowling all-rounder, Pollock along with Allan Donald formed a bowling partnership for many year ...

Jonty Rhodes Jonathan Neil "Jonty" Rhodes (born 27 July 1969) is a South African professional cricket coach, commentator and former Test cricket, Test and One Day International cricketer. He is regarded as one of the greatest fielders of all time and was the ...

and

Lance Klusener Lance Klusener (born 4 September 1971) is an international cricket coach and former cricketer of South Africa. He was known for his aggressive batting and fast-medium swing bowling. Klusener was one of the best all-rounders in the world during ...

. He led the province to victory in both the first class and one day trophies in 1996–97. Ford coached the South Africa A side in 1998 in a tour of Sri Lanka and the following year was named the assistant coach of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. As assistant to

Bob Woolmer Robert Andrew Woolmer (14 May 1948 – 18 March 2007) was an English cricket coach, cricketer, and a commentator. He played in 19 Test matches and six One Day Internationals for the England cricket team and later coached South Africa, Warwicksh ...

he coached South Africa in the 1999 World Cup where they reached the semi-finals before being eliminated by Australia. Following the tournament he replaced Woolmer as coach and led the country to victory in 8 of the 11 series that they played but having suffered back-to-back defeats against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

he lost his job in June 2002. Ford became director of cricket at

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

in 2005. In 2006 he returned to South Africa to coach the

Dolphins A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...

but left the role the same year for personal reasons. On 9 June 2007 he was offered the position of coach of the

Indian cricket team The India men's national cricket team, also known as Men in Blue, represents India in international cricket. It is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India and is a full member nation of the International Cricket Council with T ...

, but two days later he declined the offer, citing "it was the right decision for me and my family". It was announced on 31 July 2009 that he would not be returning to Kent for the 2010 season, again citing personal reasons. In January 2012, he was appointed as the head coach of the Sri Lanka national team, replacing

Geoff Marsh Geoffrey Robert Marsh (born 31 December 1958) is an Australian former cricketer, coach and selector. He played 50 Test cricket, Test matches and 117 One Day Internationals for Australia national cricket team, Australia as an Batting order (cr ...

. In September 2013, he declined to extend his two-year term beyond January 2014 and stepped down from his post as head coach of Sri Lanka national team. On 27 February 2014, he accepted the post of head coach at

Surrey County Cricket Club Surrey County Cricket Club (Surrey CCC) is a first-class club in county cricket, one of eighteen in the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Surrey, including areas that now form South Londo ...

Kumar Sangakkara Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara (; born 27 October 1977) is a Sri Lankan former professional cricketer who represented Sri Lanka from 2000 to 2015. A former captain in all formats. He was born in Matale, Central Province. In first-class cricke ...

, in the twilight of his career, cited Ford's presence at Surrey as a reason for him to go there in 2015 and praised his influence on Sri Lankan cricket. In January 2016, Ford was once again appointed as the head coach of the Sri Lankan national cricket team. However, Sri Lanka Cricket contracted Ford until 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, his second tenure ended after 15 months in late June 2017. In September 2017, Ford was appointed as Ireland's head coach initially on a three-year contract but his contract with

Cricket Ireland Cricket Ireland (formerly the Irish Cricket Union) is the national Sport governing body, governing body for cricket on the island of Ireland (both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland), and oversees the national Ireland cricket team, men' ...

was further extended by three years in 2019. During his tenure as the head coach of Ireland men's national cricket team, he oversaw a transitional phase with the team. Ireland also eventually received the ICC test status during his coaching stint and Ireland played in as many as 101 international matches under his guidance. In November 2021, he resigned from the position of Ireland head coach citing bio-bubble fatigue, mental health concerns and family commitments.

References

External links

* 1960 births Alumni of Maritzburg College Coaches of the South Africa national cricket team Coaches of the Sri Lanka national cricket team KwaZulu-Natal cricketers Living people South African cricketers South African cricket coaches Coaches of the Irish national cricket team {{SouthAfrica-cricket-bio-stub