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Gulf GiantsHead Coach

Simon Helmot

Head coach · Australia

Born

12 February 1972, Melbourne

Playing role

Club cricketer

Coaching since

Age 25

Simon Helmot is the head coach of Gulf Giants in ILT20 Season 5, appointed in May 2026 after five seasons with Melbourne Renegades Women. An Australian coach with more than two decades in the game, Helmot has led teams in Australia, India and Bangladesh. He has also coached in the Caribbean, and his Renegades side won the Women's Big Bash League title in 2024.

Simon Helmot: Quick Facts

Playing background

Helmot did not play first-class cricket. He was a club cricketer in Melbourne who began coaching early, taking charge of Hawthorn-Monash University Cricket Club at 25 while still playing. That early start set the pattern for a career spent entirely on the coaching side of the game, from state cricket in Australia to franchise leagues around the world.

Coaching career

After retiring from playing, Helmot coached Victoria's under-19 side at the Victorian Institute of Sport and spent two years with ACT Comets in the Cricket Australia Cup. He returned to Melbourne in 2007 as Victoria Bushrangers high performance manager, became an assistant coach under Greg Shipperd for the 2008-09 season, coached the Australia A side that toured India in 2008, and then coached Victoria in the one-day competition, reaching three finals and winning the 2010-11 title. In 2011-12 he was appointed the inaugural coach of Melbourne Renegades in the newly formed Big Bash League, staying for four seasons; the best of them was 2012-13, when the Renegades finished as minor premiers before losing the semi-final to Brisbane Heat, and he parted ways with the club in January 2015. He was named head coach of the Bangladesh Cricket Board's High Performance Programme in June 2016, coached Chittagong Vikings in the Bangladesh Premier League, and was an assistant coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL in 2018 and again in 2022, when he replaced Simon Katich. He was part of the Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel side that won the Caribbean Premier League title in 2015, and he was head coach of St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the Caribbean Premier League. In 2021 he became head coach of Melbourne Renegades Women, leading them to their maiden Women's Big Bash League title in 2024 with Sophie Molineux as captain, and he resigned in April 2026 with two years left on his contract. He worked as a Sunrisers Hyderabad assistant again in IPL 2026, under Daniel Vettori, before joining Gulf Giants.

Records and achievements

Helmot's coaching record covers state, franchise and women's cricket, with titles in two countries.

• One-day title with Victoria in 2010-11, after three finals
• Minor premiers with Melbourne Renegades men in 2012-13
• Women's Big Bash League title with Melbourne Renegades Women in 2024, their first
• Caribbean Premier League title with Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel in 2015
• More than two decades coaching across Australia, India, Bangladesh and the UAE

Simon Helmot in ILT20 Season 5

Helmot leads a Gulf Giants side that won the inaugural ILT20 title in 2023 and has finished fifth in both 2025 and 2025-26. He replaces Jonathan Trott, who spent one season as head coach, and Jos Buttler captains the side. Michael Klinger joined the coaching staff as batting coach ahead of the season.

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

Career numbers

Coaching milestones. Helmot has no first-class playing career; his record is built entirely as a coach.

Conclusion

Helmot's Season 5 job is to lift a former champion that has finished fifth twice in a row back into the playoffs, with Jos Buttler as captain. His last job ended with a title; the Giants will want the same ending here.

More coverage: the Gulf Giants squad, the Season 5 schedule and the full coaches index.