Law to be head coach at Australia's Centre of Excellence

Melbourne, April 17 (IANS) Former Australian batsman Stuart Law, who stepped down as the Bangladesh coach, will now take over as the Cricket Australia Centre of Excellence (COE) High Performance Coach.

The High Performance Coach role was created as part of the ongoing review of the team performance structure and will assist COE head coach Troy Cooley to ensure the best tactical and technical support and development is provided to Australian cricketers in the state and national programs.

COE manager Belinda Clark said: "Stuart is a current international coach with recent demonstrable success and we're fortunate to have secured his services in the Australian Cricket landscape. He has experienced success with two international teams, periods that included an ICC Cricket World Cup Final appearance with Sri Lanka in 2011 and Bangladesh's first Asia Cup Final last month. His knowledge of the subcontinent and England, and his experience with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, will bring a global perspective to the COE."

Law said the opportunity to return home to be closer with family and work in Brisbane with Australia's established and emerging talent was too good to pass up.

"As a member of the first intake of the former Cricket Academy, I'm a passionate believer in the COE and look forward to working with Pat Howard, Belinda Clark, Troy Cooley and the rest of the high performance team, as well as the state and territory associations, to deliver programs that will develop and prepare players for the challenge of achieving sustained international success," Law said.

"I thank the Bangladesh Cricket Board and the Bangladesh players for their support and will be watching their progress with keen interest over the coming months and years," he said.

Law, a long-time captain of Queensland, featured in one Test and 54 ODIs for Australia between 1994 and 1999.