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

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

Since his retirement in 2020, the 40-year-old has moved into coaching and been an assistant under Malan – something Wilson said he was “grateful” for as it helped him take charge of their “incredibly good working relationship”.

“I made no secret to Cricket Ireland that I was ambitious and that’s what I wanted,” Wilson said.

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

“Being an assistant coach with guys is very different from being a head coach, but for me it’s all about relationships and communication.”

Wilson has some tough decisions to make, and he wants integrity to be at the center of it all.

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

“I’m good at it and I like to think I’m a well-rounded choice, hopefully.”