Gary Wilson: How ‘ambitious’ new head coach plans to grow Irish cricket

While Malan’s departure a day after a historic win may have come as a shock, Wilson said that internally “the succession plan has been there for a period of time”.

Since he retired in 2020, the 40-year-old moved into coaching and was assistant under Malan – something Wilson said he is “grateful for” as it helped him be in a position to take over with their “unbelievably good working relationship”.

“I made no secret to Cricket Ireland that I was ambitious and this is the job I wanted,” Wilson said.

“Obviously, I’ll have my own ideas and the way I want to go about things, and no doubt over a period of time relationships with the guys will change.

“Being an assistant coach with the guys is very, very different to being the head coach, but at the forefront for me is relationships and communication.”

Wilson will have to make some difficult decisions, and he wants honesty to be at the heart of everything.

“I know the landscape of cricket in Ireland. I’m not coming in blind in terms of the facilities we’ve got, in terms of what player pool we’ve got, contracts, money and all that.

“I’m well versed in that and I like to think that I’m a well-rounded choice, hopefully.”