Even though Malan’s contract ran until early 2027, bowing out after a historic T20I series win was felt the right moment for him. It will allow Wilson to work on the goal of 2027 ODI World Cup qualification, a tournament they have not played since 2015.

Malan was appointed head coach in 2022, and in the four-year run, Ireland went to three consecutive T20 World Cups and won three Tests. In a statement, Malan said: “on the field, we can look back with great pride on our historic T20 World Cup victory against England in Melbourne, our first-ever Test victory against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi, the first home Test win vs Zimbabwe in Belfast, the historic T20 series win at home vs India and beating Pakistan, West Indies, South Africa.”

Wilson, who represented Ireland 292 times captained the T20I team 26 times, retired in 2020 after a 15-year career. Malan will work closely with Wilson during the transition period before Ireland host Afghanistan for five ODIs in August.

Currently 11th on ICC’s ODI rankings, Ireland sit just outside the ODI ranking cut-offs (as it stands) for automatic qualification into the newly expanded 14-team tournament. Under Wilson’s coaching, they will likely need to go through a global qualifier event next year for an ODI World Cup spot.

“I have been extremely fortunate over the years to have worked with some of the best coaches around and have had the opportunity to learn so much,” Wilson said. “My coaching beliefs have been shaped by each coach I have worked with, and are centred around strong communication, building and maintaining relationships to get the best out of players, hard work, a player-centred focus, and setting high challenges for those who are driven to succeed. Above all, the power of the connection to the Shamrock is something I’ve witnessed and is something I intend on using to our advantage.”

“Over recent months, we have been discussing the upcoming World Cup Qualifier cycle and what would best support the squad’s preparation,” Graeme West, Cricket Ireland’s director of high performance, said. “In those conversations, Heinrich expressed a desire to step back at this point, which aligned with our focus on ensuring continuity heading into that campaign.

“Gary comes into the role at a crucial time in the World Cup Qualifier cycle and will now have valuable time to work with the squad during the build-up to the tournament.”

*1140GMT The news story was updated after the announcement of Gary Wilson’s appointment