Ex-SA cricket star appointed Zimbabwe batting coach

FORMER South Africa all-rounder Lance Klusener has re-joined the Zimbabwe senior men's national team as batting coach after recently quitting his job as Afghanistan head coach in December.

Klusener will be making his second stint in the same role, having previously worked as Zimbabwe's batting coach under the then head coach Heath Streak between 2016 and 2018.

He takes over the batting coaching duties from Stuart Matsikenyeri, who has been elevated to the position of assistant coach while Indian Lalchand Rajput remains as head coach.

Klusener's appointment was confirmed by the Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) Board during its meeting held on Monday.

"He is taking over from Stuart Matsikenyeri, who now moves to the position of assistant coach, and served as Zimbabwe's batting coach between 2016 and 2018. Until recently, he was head coach of the Afghanistan national team," said Zimbabwe Cricket's media and communications manager Darlington Majonga in a statement.

Prior to his return to Zimbabwe, Klusener enjoyed notable success with the Afghanistan cricket team.

The South African coach however revealed in December that he would not continue as head coach of Afghanistan after the expiry of his contract.

Klusener took the Afghanistan job in September 2019 and led the team to compete in the recently-completed T20 World Cup in the UAE and Oman.

During his first stint as Zimbabwe coach, Klusener worked under the former head coach Heath Streak, while his former South Africa teammate Makhaya Ntini was bowling coach.

While Zimbabwe's performances improved markedly at the time, failure to qualify for the 2019 World Cup seemed to reverse all the progress made, leading to the dismissal of the entire technical team.