- Erin Osborne took charge at Taunton in the Spring
- Former Australian international signed a five-year deal
- Took over from Trevor Griffiths in November 2025
Somerset’s head coach Erin Osborne is relishing the chance to help her young squad of women flourish. The former Australian international took over from Trevor Griffiths on a five-year contract last November.
Osborne is hoping to learn from her mistakes now she is coaching instead of playing. She spent much of her career juggling a A$5000 (£2,664)-a-year cricket contract with full-time employment and studying. She then switched to cricket full-time in her final few years before retiring.
“Cricket wasn’t my world”
Speaking to BBC Radio Bristol, Osborne said “I actually found the transition quite difficult because I had a full-time job while studying, which created a nice balance. Cricket wasn’t my world. The struggle was when it became full-time, I didn’t have that balance right of what I was doing away from cricket, and the pressure did get to me at times, so I’m hoping some of what I experienced can help expedite the transition for our young players coming through.
“I knew I wanted to give back to the game, and coaching was a natural fit, and opportunities came much sooner than I thought they would, so I fell into it a little bit.
She continued to say that she “wanted to test my skills in a different country and Taunton is a great place to be based. I am still getting used to how chaotic the game is compared to in Australia, but I am amazed how well I have settled in.”
“Hit over the fence every ball”
Osborne is still new to coaching, but is already focussed on how she wants to approach the way she leads. She said “I don’t want to be that coach who is like ‘this is how I did it’ and ‘back in my day…’ because the game has evolved so much. If I were to play now, I would be hit over the fence every ball because my skills would not be good enough, that is how much the game has evolved, which is exciting.”
There are some experienced players already in Osborne’s ranks. She has been able to witness the effect of having Dani Gibson, Charlie Dean and Heather Knight in and around the team. All three were involved in England’s recent T20 series win over New Zealand.
Osborne said“They understand what it is like to be high-performing athletes, something which a lot of our team are still figuring out. To have them around the dressing room, seeing how they prepare and recover has been valuable to our group.”
“It’s going to take time”
So far this season, Osborne has seen her team win three games from eight One Day Cup games. They have also won one game out of two in the Vitality Blast.
Osborne knows that it’s not going to happen overnight. She said “I know where I want to get this team to and it is going to take time. We need to understand that we are on a five-year journey when things don’t go our way.
“I don’t just want a team that is successful for a year. I want longevity and to build a sustainable pathway where we are producing local talent coming through. Myself and the club are on the same page with that. It’s another reason why Somerset is perfect for me.
Somerset’s next game in the Blast is at Surrey on 31st May.
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