Pat Howard reappointed for two years

Pat Howard has signed on for another two years as Australia's executive general manager of team performance.

Howard was appointed in 2011 to the newly created role recommended by the Argus review and although his contract was due to end in June, his reappointment will now take his tenure through until at least 2017.

"This recognises the outstanding job Pat is doing leading the team performance function at Cricket Australia," Cricket Australia's chief executive James Sutherland said. "Our men's and women's teams continue to succeed on the world stage while strong foundations are being built to achieve sustained success in all forms of the game."

Howard's time at Cricket Australia has been eventful and he was part of the decision to sack Mickey Arthur as coach on the eve of the 2013 Ashes series in England.

However, the team has enjoyed significant on-field success in the past two years - Australia currently hold the Ashes, World Cup and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

The major challenge in the coming months, though, will be to sustain that performance away from home, with Test campaigns in West Indies, England and Bangladesh.