Blues name Thorpe as assistant coach

Graham Thorpe will continue his association with New South Wales as the state's assistant coach for 2007-08. Thorpe will fill the gap created when Matthew Mott became the Blues' senior coach after Trevor Bayliss was placed in charge of Sri Lanka.

Thorpe, 37, scored 6744 runs at 44.66 in 100 Tests for England and spent 18 years as a first-class cricketer before moving to Sydney in 2005-06 to work with New South Wales as a specialist batting coach. His new role will include taking the reins of the state's Second XI.

"I'm absolutely delighted to be offered the position and very much look forward to the challenge," Thorpe said. "This represents the next chapter of my cricket career and I intend to give it my all. I've enjoyed working with the squad over the past two seasons and can't wait to start my new role when I return to Australia next month."

David Gilbert, the chief executive of Cricket New South Wales, said the appointments of Mott and Thorpe gave the Blues some stability leading into next season. "To have a player of Graham's international experience working with our squad, particularly our young talented players, will be tremendous," Gilbert said.

New South Wales reached the Pura Cup final last summer but lost to Tasmania. However, they were disappointing in the shorter forms of the game and finished last in both the Ford Ranger Cup and the KFC Twenty20 competition.