Kiwis Cricket to Have New Selection System

Wellington: Former Australia coach John Buchanan has made an early mark in his new role as New Zealand's Director of Cricket, discarding a national selection panel that included Test greats Glenn Turner and Lance Cairns.

In its place, Buchanan has created a system where the team will be selected by a National Selection Manager in co-operation with the team coach.

Former chairman of selectors Mark Greatbatch will act as interim selection manager, overseeing the choice of New Zealand's 20 contracted players for next season, until a fulltime appointment is sought.

The new system will apply to all New Zealand men's and women's team from under-19 to senior international level.

"It is my experience it is important to streamline the number of people who impact on team decisions and team dynamics," Buchanan said.

The National Selection Manager and national coach would pick the team, with the coach having the last say.

Buchanan said this would "ensure greater consistency of selections" and developing players from youth level for the national team.

Buchanan said the selection manager would liaise with first-class coaches to assess players. He would also discuss selection decisions with New Zealand Cricket's high performance staff and the New Zealand team captain.

New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan supported the change while saying "it is important to recognize the selectors over the past years have done a great job."

He said the position of National Selection Manager would be advertised in the near future.