Middlesex Cricket can today confirm the appointment of South African, Dane Vilas, as Interim Men’s First Team Coach until the end of the 2025 season.
Vilas, 40, will take over the reins from tomorrow, following tonight’s Vitality Blast encounter against Surrey at the Kia Oval and ahead of Sunday’s Rothesay County Championship clash against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road.
The Club’s new Interim First Team Coach enjoyed a professional career which spanned 18 years, in which time he amassed over 10,000 first-class runs in 199 matches – notching 25 hundreds and a career-best score of 266.
Across 2015 and 2016 Vilas made six Test appearances for his country and the following year joined Lancashire, initially as a Kolpak signing, before becoming Lancashire’s overseas player and remaining at Emirates Old Trafford until his first-class retirement at the end of the 2023 season.
He captained the Red Rose across four seasons from 2019, leading the Club to promotion to Division One of the County Championship in his first year in charge, and to two further second place finishes in 2021 and 2022.
In his time at Lancashire, he also enjoyed an impressive T20 career, experiencing three T20 Finals Days at Edgbaston in 2018, 2020 and 2022.
Vilas brings a huge amount of county cricket knowledge and experience to the role, from his time in the English game, with a proven track record of successful leadership.
Speaking of today’s appointment, Middlesex Cricket’s Director of Cricket, Alan Coleman, said:
“I am delighted to welcome Dane to the club as our Interim First Team Coach.
“He has a wealth of experience to offer our squad, and I believe that we will all benefit from his presence and leadership across the rest of this season.
“Though Dane is still early in his coaching career, having only finished playing for Lancashire in 2023, I am confident that his leadership presence, competitive edge and experience of all formats, including franchise cricket, will have a huge impact on our squad.
“It is the leadership qualities that were evident when he captained Lancashire that drew me towards Dane. The teams that he has led played hard, committed, never-say-die cricket and I believe that is a style that will resonate well with our players, staff group and members.
“Dane will be supported by what I believe is an exceptional coaching team of Rory Coutts, Tim Murtagh and Ian Salisbury, who all bring variety and wide-ranging knowledge to our team.
I am sure you will all joining me in welcoming Dane over the coming weeks as we look forward to the rest of our season. There is still a lot to play for and I am excited to see where our talented playing group can take us.”
Vilas himself, added:
"It's an absolute honour to be here. Lord's is such a special place and I'm looking forward to getting started with the squad.
"The potential is endless for the group and I'll be keen to harness that and help grow their careers.
"I've got good relationships with Rory Coutts, Tim Murtagh and Ian Salisbury, so to have the four of us together is fantastic and I'm really looking forward to it."
