Former Australian international Andy Bichel has been named as the new coach of Papua New Guinea.

Bichel, who turns 39 later this month, played 19 tests and 67 ODI’s for Australia. He also had an outstanding first class career with Hampshire, Worcestershire, Essex and Queensland taking 769 wickets at 25.98 and scoring 5860 runs at 26.51 with nine centuries.

He is perhaps best remembered around the world for his stellar performances at the 2003 ICC World Cup in South Africa where he scored 117 runs once dismissed and took 16 wickets at 12.31 including a devastating 7 for 20 against England in Port Elizabeth.

The side he has inherited finished in third place at the WCL Division 3 tournament in Buenos Aires, Argentina in January, with the same number of wins as Afghanistan and Uganda but missing out on second place by a net run rate of 0.107.

Those who witnessed the tournament generally agree that nothing separated the top three. Of course, Afghanistan and Uganda progressed on to the World Cup Qualifier in South Africa. Afghanistan earned ODI status and a place in the Intercontinental Cup while Uganda’s tenth placing was good enough to grab a spot in the ICC high performance program and the Intercontinental Shield.

There is a fine line between glory and disappointment in the increasingly competitive World Cricket League as PNG have found but judging on those performances against two of cricket’s fastest emerging teams, they have the potential to break into the top 10 or top six associates very quickly.

Encouragingly, their 2008 Garamuts squad performed creditably at the under-19 World Cup in Malaysia finishing in twelth place and cricket followers in the region rate the current batch of 15 to 19 year-olds as perhaps having even greater potential.

Bichel’s official title is National Coaching Director and as such he will also oversee the PNG under-19 and womens squads. Other key appointments included. Rarua Dikana (Assistant Coach/National High Performance Manager), John Ovia (Under-19 Coach/National Batting Coach), Peter Moide (Under-17 Coach/National Fitness Coach), Jamie Brazier (National Bowling Coach) and Eddie Tamarua (National Womens Coach).

The hiring of Bichel is surely one of the most high profile to be made at this level. Earlier in the year, Bill Leane, another respected Australian with a fine record as an administrator and coach, became the new General Manager of Cricket PNG. The two appointments clearly signaling that this promising cricketing nation means business.