Former Silver Fern icon Irene Van Dyk thriving in new cricketing adventure

After years succeeding at the top level in netball, Silver Ferns legend Irene van Dyk now has a very different challenge.

She's teamed up with her husband at the Wellington Blaze women's cricket side, taking on the manager's role.

"At first, I was like, 'well, I don't know anything about cricket', but then I realised I don't need to know anything about cricket, because I'm here for the girls," Van Dyk told Newshub.

While husband Christie coaches, Van Dyk takes care of the players' welfare and organises their schedules.

"She makes my job a hell of a lot easier, now I don't have to worry about those things," Christie told Newshub.

Van Dyk joked one of her most important jobs was to play the role of 'sweetener', providing sweet goodies to the players when they needed a lift.

"I just bring them bananas and the lollies, and then they're on a high," she said.

But the legendary Silver Fern does much more than that - her experience as a full-time athlete provides much-needed counsel for the part-time Blaze players, most of whom hold down full-time jobs.

"Netball players, we've been spoilt so much that you know you get your water bottle filled, you put it on your seat and everything gets done for you, whereas these girls are more self-sufficient.

"They always ask a lot of questions, so in tough situations, it's like, 'what do you think about this?' - they want to learn from my experiences."

Newshub.