Jenkin resigns as New Zealand women's coach

New Zealand women will need a new coach just ten months before the World Cup following Steve Jenkin 's resignation earlier this week after three years in the role.

Justin Vaughan, New Zealand Cricket's chief executive, acknowledged that with the team so close to a World Cup and then the important World Twenty20, a replacement was urgent. "Putting a new coach in place is a top priority," Vaughan said. "The White Ferns have a real chance of taking honours in the tournament and we need to ensure that the team continues to build on its recent performances. We will now work through a process to appoint a new coach in the next few weeks."

Jenkin said he needed a rest. "It was a very tough decision but everything's fine [in the camp]. I'm just taking a bit of a break, which I probably should have done a few years ago," Jenkin told the Dominion Post. "I've been in the role for three years but I've coached at the elite level for 16 years straight.

"The girls are brilliant; they've worked very hard and increased their skills to a higher level. They're just a powerful cricket team, they're going to get better in the next ten months and they'll win the World Cup."

Jenkin is the third women's international coach to resign this year, after England's Mark Dobson left the Ashes tour suddenly in February and Lisa Keightley handed in her notice with Australia in May. Mark Lane replaced Dobson, while Richard McInnes took over from Keightley.