Inverarity to coach Kent next season

Former Australian Test batsman John Inverarity will coach English county side Kent next season.

Inverarity, 56, confirmed in Perth on Tuesday he will take on the job from April to July, 2001, while on long service leave from his position as headmaster of Hale School, an exclusive boys' school in Western Australia.

He will replace former New Zealand batsman John Wright, who has been appointed coach of the India cricket.

Inverarity said he would spend three to four months with Kent, aiming to put the county on track so that the captain could take over when he completed his assignment two months before the end of the season.

Inverarity has not previously coached a first-class team, but he was one of the most successful captains of an Australian State side, leading Western Australian to four Sheffield Shield titles. He captained Western Australia 47 times in Shield matches for 22 wins.

As an Australian batsman, he played in six Tests, five against England, between 1968 and 1972.

Inverarity has close links with Kent, having assisted with coaching there in the 1980s when he was teaching in England. More recently, he has coached at the Australian Cricket Academy in Adelaide, as well as worked with individual players in Western Australia.

Mail Cricket Editor