Keenan made New Zealand Women coach

Katrina Keenan, the former fast bowler, has been appointed head coach of the White Ferns, the New Zealand Women's team. Keenan represented New Zealand Women in five Tests and 54 ODIs and was part of the World Cup winning side in 2000.

Keenan recently coached Auckland Women to first and second place respectively in the domestic 50-over and Twenty20 competitions. She was previously national development officer at New Zealand Cricket, has been assistant coach of New Zealand Women previously and spent four years in Japan coaching the national women's team.

"We are very excited that Katrina has accepted this role," said John Buchanan, NZC director of cricket. "Her impressive record as an international player combined with her coaching success made her the outstanding candidate to coach the White Ferns. She brings great qualities to the role, including a genuine passion for women's cricket developed over many years in the game as a player, mentor, and coach.

"We were impressed by the way she outlined a strong commitment to work closely with the Major Associations to deliver programmes that prepare and develop cricketers to achieve sustained success at international level. Katrina expressed a real desire to raise the profile of women's cricket and has a strong focus on improving team performance."

Keenan said it was a huge honour to be offered the national coaching role. "I am incredibly motivated by working in women's cricket and excited by the opportunity to continue the good work of Gary Stead," Keenan said. "I have an extensive background and understanding of the game and I am passionate about women's cricket.

"The team has some big tours and tournaments ahead and I'm excited by the challenge and determined to work hard with the players to improve the performance of the White Ferns."

Keenan's first assignment will be to prepare the side for the upcoming Rose Bowl series in Australia before taking them to next year's Women's World Cup in India.