In a rather encouraging development with regard to gender-inclusive practices, the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season nine will see its first-ever female coach after Catherine Dalton joined Multan Sultans as fast-bowling coach. Born in England, the 30-year-old represented Ireland in four one-day internationals (ODIs) and four T20Is after acquiring Irish citizenship in 2015. Dalton is “an ECB-certified Level 3 Advanced Coach, has previously occupied coaching roles at the national fast-bowling academy in the United Kingdom and the Ultimate Pace Foundation in India,” Multan Sultans wrote on their X account while apprising that she has previously coached their academy players as well. Among her numerous assignments, she worked with Deepak Chahar. Additionally, Dalton served as the assistant head coach at the National Fast-Bowling Academy based in the UK, working in partnership with Ian Pont and Andre Nel. “Catherine has been part of our player-development programme for almost five years now. I have seen how she has improved players first-hand. I always knew she would become a fast-bowling coach at a high level,” Ali Tareen, Multan Sultans’ owner said. “It’s truly an honour and I can’t thank you enough for this opportunity,” Dalton said while expressing gratitude to Tareen. “Having worked in Pakistan with some of the Multan Sultan players on two previous visits, I am really thrilled to be officially joining up with the franchise at the PSL,” Dalton said while speaking. “It’s not lost on me the ground-breaking moment for a female fast-bowling coach to be working in a major men’s T20 franchise. I am very humbled by the opportunity and cannot wait to hopefully help make a difference on multiple levels,” she added. It must be noted that PSL 9 is scheduled to take place between February 8 and March 24, 2024. Multan Sultans were the runners-up in the 2023 edition and have reached the final in each of the past three tournaments.