Former England Batsman Hick Appointed as Australia Performance Coach

Graeme Hick has been appointed as the new high performance coach at Cricket Australia's centre of excellence in Brisbane.

The former England bastman appeared in 65 Tests and 120 one-day internationals, while his county cricket career spanned more than 25 years and saw him amass an incredible 41,112 runs in first class games at an average of 52.23 with 136 hundreds.

Hick retired from the game back in 2008 and had been working in a consultancy role with the Australian Institute of Sport.

His main focus will be to oversee the developments teams which include Australia A and the Under-19s. The 47 year old takes over from Stuart Law who has accepted the head coach role at Queensland which had been vacated by Darren Lehmann.

"Over the years I have developed a huge amount of respect for Australian cricket and the Baggy Green," said Hick.

"I am excited about the chance to work with Australia's young talent and being able to assist in their growth and development. This is going to be a great challenge for me and one I am really looking forward to."

Cricket Australia general manager Pat Howard believes Hick is the right man to help develop the next generation of Australian cricketers.

"Graeme is a highly regarded former international batsman. It is fantastic that we could secure his services full-time," Howard told the BBC.

"His main role will be working with our development teams including Australia A and Under-19 players.

"He will also provide a dedicated batting resource to all state players and Australian players who come through the Centre of Excellence at any time during the year.

"Graeme knows what it takes to compete at the top level and has had many years' experience playing in different conditions, which will be vital to the development of our young batters."

Hick was born in Harare in Zimbabwe but chose to represent England and went on to score 3,383 Test runs at an average of just over 31, while in ODIs he averaged 37.33 and amassed 3,846 runs.