“Absolutely brutal”: The element of Haddin’s hiring that O’Keefe can’t cop

Brad Haddin is set to be named the new coach of Cricket NSW tomorrow, replacing the outgoing Greg Shipperd.

Shipperd coached NSW and the Sydney Sixers for 11 seasons before being sacked by Cricket NSW despite having more time to run on his contract.

Cricket NSW have also sacked Shawn Bradstreet and Ali de Winter on the final day of their Sheffield Shield match.

Nicholas Bertus, Daniel Smith, and Peter Forrest are set to be named Haddin's assistant coaches in place of Bradstreet and de Winter.

Haddin, who played 66 Tests for Australia, is expected to be announced as the new coach tomorrow, with former Test and Sixers bowler Stephen O’Keefe revealing the news on SEN 1170 Sportsday.

“It hasn't been announced yet, and I can unofficially confirm that Brad Haddin will be the coach of Cricket New South Wales, next season,” O’Keefe said.

“He'll bring in, from what I'm hearing, Nick Bertus, Daniel Smith, and Peter Forrest (as assistant coaches), all former New South Wales cricketers.

“This will be announced tomorrow. I am confident this will happen, but on day four, they have sacked two assistant coaches in the middle of the game.

“They've had a meeting in the morning, grabbed two of the assistant Blues coaches and said your services are no longer required.

“Brad had an had an amazing playing career, and if he can turn that into a great coaching career, he’s going to be a fantastic coach, and there's some great young coaches involved, but to get rid of the likes of Shawn Bradstreet (and) Ali De Winter, who are just great servants of Cricket New South Wales, and do it in that fashion is absolutely brutal, and extremely disappointing.

“He'll bring in a raft of new assistant coaches, and he's got a big job to do.”

Under Shipperd’s lead, the Sixers won two titles in the BBL and only missed finals twice.

O'Keefe didn't fully agree with the reasons behind the sacking of Shipperd given the playing group were behind the coach.

“So he makes the BBL Final (with the Sixers), wins the Dean Jones Trophy (with the Blues),” he said of Shipperd.

“The Shield team has struggled but they’re producing some good young cricket stars and there’s momentum building.

“The players got together and got him a nice watch worth over $4,000 and a card, very nice of them - considering the CEO Lee Germon had come out and said he canvassed the playing group and that was one of the reasons he got the sack.

“Well, I read a card and there was about 35 players with heartfelt messages on there saying how good a coach he was. Maybe didn’t canvass those 35 players.

“So someone’s lying. I don’t know who it is but you can join the dots.”