Home / Coaches / Adrian Birrell

Sharjah Warriorz crest

Sharjah WarriorzHead Coach

Adrian Birrell

Head coach · South Africa

Born

8 December 1960, Grahamstown

Playing role

Opening batter

Bowling

Leg break

Adrian Birrell is the head coach of Sharjah Warriorz in ILT20 Season 5, appointed in August 2026 to lead a side that finished last in 2025-26. A South African coach with a long international and franchise record, Birrell led Ireland to the 2007 World Cup Super Eight stage and Sunrisers Eastern Cape to three SA20 titles.

Adrian Birrell: Quick Facts

Adrian Birrell: Personal life

Birrell's wife is Susan, and he has two sons. Away from cricket, he farms cattle near Alexandria in the Eastern Cape.

Playing career

Birrell was educated at St Andrew's College in Grahamstown, where his father Harry taught. He played first-class cricket for Eastern Province in South Africa between 1984-85 and 1997-98, as an opening batter and a leg-spin bowler. In 45 first-class matches he scored 1,480 runs and took 75 wickets at an average of 30.16, before turning to coaching.

Coaching career

Before Ireland, Birrell coached at the Titans and Warriors in South African domestic cricket. He was head coach of Ireland from 2002 to 2007, leading them to the Super Eight stage of the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies, where they beat Pakistan and Bangladesh and tied with Zimbabwe, and he left after the tournament, when Phil Simmons took over. He was head coach of the England under-19 side, and in 2013 he was appointed assistant coach of South Africa under Russell Domingo, a role he held until 2017, with special responsibility for fielding and for mentoring franchise coaches; the pair had earlier taken the Warriors to the final of the Champions League T20 in 2010. He spent seven years as head coach of Hampshire in English county cricket. In the SA20 he coached Sunrisers Eastern Cape to three championship titles, the most by any franchise in the competition's history, and he was head coach of Sunrisers Leeds in the Women's Hundred at the time of his Sharjah appointment. He also joined the Lions as a high performance coaching consultant from May 2026, for a minimum two-year term.

Records and achievements

Birrell's coaching record is built on the two jobs that define it: Ireland's greatest World Cup run and the most successful SA20 franchise.

• World Cup Super Eight stage with Ireland in 2007, beating Pakistan and Bangladesh
• Three SA20 titles with Sunrisers Eastern Cape, the most by any franchise in the competition
• Seven years as head coach of Hampshire
• Assistant coach of South Africa from 2013 to 2017

Adrian Birrell in ILT20 Season 5

Birrell leads a Sharjah Warriorz side that finished at the bottom of the points table in 2025-26 and has never won the ILT20 title. James Vince captains the side, and the appointment, confirmed on 10 August 2026, is a rebuild job: the Warriorz need a first final, and Birrell's record is built on exactly that kind of turnaround.

These are the ten league fixtures. This section will be updated as Season 5 is played.

Career numbers

Eastern Province, 1984-85 to 1997-98. Leg-break bowler, averaging 30.16 with the ball.

Conclusion

Birrell's Season 5 job is the clearest of the six: lift the side that finished last in 2025-26 off the bottom, with James Vince as captain. His career says he can build a winning team from a low base; the Warriorz are his next test.

More coverage: the Sharjah Warriorz squad, the Season 5 schedule and the full coaches index.