Manchester Originals have extended Simon Katich’s contract for another year, despite the men’s team’s disappointing performance this season. However, Stephen Parry has been relieved of his duties as head coach of the women’s side after two years.
The decisions were made by the Originals board, which has been restructured to reflect the team’s closer ties with Lancashire from 2025. Lancashire will become majority shareholders in Originals next season, acquiring a 51% stake from the ECB, while the remaining 49% will be sold to a private investor.
Mark Chilton, Lancashire’s director of cricket, will lead the search for Parry’s successor as women’s head coach. James Sheridan, a member of the Lancashire board, has replaced Mark Chapman as Originals’ chair, although Chapman remains on the board.
Katich, a former Australian batter, has coached Originals men since the Hundred’s inception in 2021. Despite finishing as runners-up in the 2022 and 2023 seasons, the team struggled this year, winning only one of their eight matches.
“We were all disappointed with how this season went,” Katich said. “I feel we have unfinished business given the events of the last three editions of the Hundred and all of us at the Originals will ensure that we get back on track next year… We are determined to win it for Manchester.”
Parry, on the other hand, has been replaced after his side finished sixth in the women’s Hundred this season. Originals are the only women’s team who have not reached the knockout stages in any of the tournament’s first four editions.
“Stephen leaves us with our thanks and best wishes,” Sheridan said. “He joined us with our women’s team under-strength and still finding its feet at this level of cricket… We are in a much better place following two years with Stephen at the helm.”
The recruitment process for Parry’s successor will begin immediately, with Chilton overseeing the search. “Our aim now is to recruit a world-leading women’s short-format head coach, and we are very excited where this group of players can take Manchester Originals next year and beyond,” Chilton said.
These announcements come ahead of Friday’s deadline for first-round bids in the ECB’s sale process of the Hundred. Lancashire is actively seeking a “sporting partner” to become co-owners of Originals.
