Ryan Campbell to take over as Netherlands coach from April

Former Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Ryan Campbell has been appointed as the head coach of Netherlands. He will take over the reigns from interim coach Chris Adams from April 2017. Adams will continue to remain as the coach for the Hong Kong tour next month, for a round of World Cricket League championship matches and the Intercontinental Cup fixture that is scheduled to be played between February 10 to 13 against the hosts.

Campbell has played two One-Day Internationals for Australia and three Twenty20 Internationals for Hong Kong. His ODI debut came in 2002 against New Zealand, where he scored 38 runs with the bat opening the innings and also kept wickets. His only other game for Australia came at the end of the same year against Sri Lanka.

He was named Hong Kong's batting coach in 2013 after serving as the head coach and operations manager of Kowloon Cricket Club. Surprisingly, he was then picked in the Hong Kong squad to play in the 2016 World T20. He became the oldest player to debut in the format at the age of 44 when he took the field against Zimbabwe at Nagpur. He made only 9 in the game and followed that with scores of 27 and 0 as Hong Kong were knocked out in the first round.

"I am honoured to be offered the head coach position with Netherlands cricket, a team that has risen to great heights on the world stage and has a rich tradition in the game," Campbell said following the appointment on Friday (January 20).

"They have many talented players and I hope my experience can help bring on the youngsters, whilst also helping out our experienced leaders. With my wife and son holding Dutch passports, I have always held the Netherlands close to my heart and I can't wait to get there and make a big contribution to the direction of Dutch Cricket."