Melbourne, Sep 25 (IANS): Cricket Australia (CA) Wednesday appointed former Zimbabwean and English batsman Graeme Hick as the high performance coach at its Centre of Excellence in Brisbane.

Hick fills the role vacated by former Australian Test player Stuart Law who took up the position as head coach at Queensland Cricket following Darren Lehmann’s departure in June to take up the Australian men's cricket coach.

CA executive general manager team performance Pat Howard said: “Graeme is a highly regarded former international batsman who has been a consultant coach this past winter working with our AIS scholars. It is fantastic that we could secure his services full-time."

Hick said Over the years he has developed a huge amount of respect for Australian cricket.

“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,” said Hick.

Hick played for Zimbabwe from 1983-1985 before moving to England to pursue a career as a professional cricketer. He first played for England in 1991, playing 65 Tests before retiring in 2001.

In his 25 years playing First-Class cricket, Hick scored 136 centuries, 41,112 First-Class runs with an average of 52, before retiring from First-Class cricket in 2008.