Kenya Appoints New Zealander Hesson as Coach

Nairobi: Kenya have appointed New Zealander Michael Hesson as the new cricket national coach, officials said on Tuesday.

The Dunedin-born Hesson, 36, is widely regarded as one of the best young coaches in the game, having been involved in coaching the New Zealand A side and the Otago Volts provincial team for six years.

His appointment follows an exhaustive recruitment process, started after Kenya's dismal performance at the last cricket World Cup, which led to the resignation of the former coach Eldine Baptiste and the sacking of four senior players.

"We are delighted to have secured Mike's services. He has an excellent record of developing players and successful teams, and he has worked at the highest level with some of the best players in the game," Cricket Kenya chief executive Tom Sears said in a statement.

Hesson has been credited for mentoring the New Zealand cricket brothers, Nathan and Brendon McCullum, when he was coaching state Otago, and for recruiting England Player of Year Jonathan Trott to play in New Zealand.

But he has his work cut out in his new job as the coach of Kenya. He arrives in the country with the state of the game in disarray after most of the players refused to sign contracts to play for the national team.

Only three of the 13 contracted players have been training, less than a week before Kenya plays the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in an ICC Intercontinental Cup tie and two-match one-day series in Nairobi.