John Buchanan becomes New Zealand's director of cricket

Buchanan coached Australia for eight years

Former Australia coach John Buchanan has been confirmed as New Zealand's director of cricket.

The post is a new position which will govern most high-performance aspects of the sport and includes overseeing the national selection panel.

The 58-year-old coached Australia for eight years from 1999, guiding them to three World Cup titles and a record 16 wins in a row in Test matches.

"It is an honour to be appointed to this challenging role," he said.

New Zealand reached the semi-finals of the World Cup last month before losing by five wickets to Sri Lanka but are near the bottom of the world standings in both Tests and one-day matches.

Buchanan will be responsible for implementing a consistent coaching philosophy across the country as well as building a talent identification system.

He has a great cricketing pedigree and will provide outstanding leadership as New Zealand Cricket look to move forward New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan

"It is a wonderful opportunity to build on the work that has been done," he continued.

"New Zealand Cricket has a proud history and it is a true honour to be given the responsibility. I want to be part of the next successful era and am committed to building sustainable high performance for New Zealand Cricket."

New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan said Buchanan's appointment will give the team an opportunity to improve on the world stage.

"He has a great cricketing pedigree and will provide outstanding leadership as New Zealand Cricket look to move forward," he said.

Although Buchanan enjoyed huge success with Australia, his coaching methods were often questioned, with Shane Warne in particular often dismissive of his approach.

Buchanan takes up his new post in May.