Trevor Penney has been appointed Paarl Royals' head coach for SA20 2025. He replaces Shane Bond, who will focus on Rajasthan Royals' plans ahead of the next IPL auction.
The owners of the Royals franchise, Royals Sports Group, took over the Barbados team in the CPL in 2021. Penney has been in charge of the team since 2022, with the runners-up finish that year their best result under him.
"I'm honored to take on the head coach role at Paarl Royals," Penney said in a statement. "The SA20 has become a major tournament on the global cricket calendar, and I'm excited to work with such a talented squad. Being part of the Royals family with Rajasthan Royals and Barbados Royals has been a wonderful journey, and I'm looking forward to continuing that experience in Paarl. I'm confident we can build on the successes of the last two seasons and make a strong push for the title in 2025."
Penney will work alongside David Miller, who has captained Royals in both the seasons of SA20 so far.
Royals made a semi-final exit in the inaugural season of the SA20 (2023) and bowed out in the Eliminator earlier this year. In the auction ahead of the next edition of the SA20, Royals had just the one slot left to fill and did that by picking wicketkeeper Rubin Hermann. Before that, they had picked former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik as their wildcard player.
Meanwhile, Bond, who is the bowling coach of Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, will link up with new head coach Rahul Dravid and batting coach Vikram Rathour to finalise the plans ahead of the auction later this year.
"We're delighted to have Trevor join as head coach of Paarl Royals," Royals' director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara said. "His track record with the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL and with the Barbados Royals in the CPL, where he's helped in transforming the team into consistent contenders, shows the quality of coach he is. We believe his experience, combined with the leadership of David Miller and a talented squad, will help Paarl Royals continue their rise in SA20.
"Shane Bond, who has been fantastic with us in both the IPL and the SA20, will focus extensively on his continued role with the Rajasthan Royals and spend more time in India, overseeing the scouting and trial processes along with Rahul and Vikram."