Nor is the Otago Cricket Association.
The association put out a brief press release yesterday announcing Ebrahim’s decision.
The 43-year-old will remain as head coach until the end of the Plunket Shield season.
The former Zimbabwean international still had a year to run on his contract and told the Otago Daily Times late last month he had every intention of seeing it out.
He declined to be interviewed when approached for further comment yesterday. In a statement, he said he had "thoroughly enjoyed the challenging and rewarding aspects of coaching the Otago Volts".
"I would like to thank Otago Cricket for the opportunity and wish them, along with all the players, the very best for the future”.
OCA chief executive Mike Coggan did not elaborate any further either.
“Dion has worked tirelessly with the Otago Volts over the past three seasons and has been an excellent servant of Otago Cricket and our high performance programme and we wish him the very best", he said in a press release.
Coggan also declined to be interviewed.
If this all sounds a little familiar, that is because it is.
Leading Otago Sparks batter Kate Ebrahim — Dion’s wife — was not contracted this season, and both the OCA and Kate Ebrahim declined to comment when that bombshell was confirmed.
Sources have told the Otago Daily Times the decision not to contract Kate Ebrahim caused some friction behind the scenes.
It is understood the relationship between Sparks head coach Craig Cumming and Dion Ebrahim broke down and the pair were not communicating for a period.
Ebrahim’s communication style also raised a few concerns with the head office.
While his messaging within the team was fine, he did not prioritise communication with the OCA and that caused some tension, a source said, adding it was a challenge to get timely information out of him.
Some of the feedback from the players was not always favourable, either.
"There was the, ‘Is he getting the best out of the players?’ aspect", the source said.
On the field, the Volts have had their challenges.
They rallied to make the elimination final of the Ford Trophy this season.
And last season they made the playoffs of both the Ford Trophy and the Super Smash.
But first-class results have been consistently poor during Ebrahim’s tenure.
The Volts have shown signs of being more competitive this season.
They have got into positions to win their past three games but have fallen short.
Recruitment has been another area of weakness. The Volts have not been able to attract top- tier players to the region.
But those struggles pre-date Ebrahim’s arrival.
The right-hander played 29 tests and 82 one-dayers for Zimbabwe from 2001 to 2005.
He moved to the United Kingdom in 2006 but was lured to New Zealand in 2007 as a player-coach for the Taranaki Hawke Cup team.
He accepted a role with Canterbury Cricket in 2014 as a performance and pathways manager before stepping up as Canterbury assistant coach for two years.
He also had a year as an assistant coach for Central Districts before moving south to coach Otago in 2021.
