Fantastic news for New Zealand cricket fans, as a new coach has been named to replace the departing John Bracewell. Northern Districts coach, Andy Moles, will replace Bracewell after the final Test in Adelaide in a few days time. This is welcome news for all those who felt Bracewell should have gone a long time ago - and yes, we are certainly in that group.

Bracewell was originally scheduled to leave at the end of the New Zealand Summer, but has decided it would be best to leave after the two-Test series against the Aussies - which we think is the best decision Bracewell has made in his time as coach.

The Black Caps have failed to make any improvements in their game under Bracewell, and while we still rank in the top 4 in One Day cricket, we haven't made a serious attempt at challenging for that top spot. As for Tests, we seem to have gotten worse as time has gone on - and our batting can only be described as atrocious.

Andy Moles was an opening batsman, and hopefully he can come in and teach our top order a thing or two about staying at the crease. He has plenty of potential to work with, but we'll just have to wait and see if he can get the best out of them.

The one thing he has said he will do is make the players accountable for their performances, which is something Bracewell has never done. Just think back to how long Hamish Marshall was kept in the team, despite being in the worst form of his life. If the players aren't performing, then they need to face the consequences. We've said it a million times before - there is potential by the bucket loads, but for some reason the players just aren't producing the goods.

Barrack Obama said it best - "It's time for a change". And, while he probably wasn't talking about the Black Caps (we don't think), the saying fits nicely.

Moles has a hard task ahead of him, but if he's given the right support fro New Zealand Cricket and, most importantly, the players themselves, we don't see any reason why he can't lift the Black Caps out of the mediocre, and into one of the best teams in the world.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

The New Zealand Cricket Chief Executive, Justin Vaughan, has announced that NZC are on the hunt for a new coach, who will replace John Bracewell when his contract expires next season.

Bracewell has already lined up a new job as coach for the English county club Gloucestershire, which will be his second stint with the club.

Bracewell's term in charge hasn't been overly successful, with the Black Caps still struggling to find form in the longer version of the game. And while we are still rated third in one dayers, we haven't progressed to where we can put up a challenge against Australia or South Africa on a regular basis.

We here in the Attic are - quite frankly, sorry John - pleased to see him leave, and we're looking forward to seeing who leads them into the future.

Justin Vaughan has put the call out to coaches worldwide, and will be looking for someone with the experience to coach the Black Caps, and ultimately improve their current standings - most notably in Tests.

Please.

Some of the candidates from New Zealand are Dipak Patel (who has coached the Under 19's) and Auckland Aces coach, Mark O'Donnell.

Steve Rixon and John Wright are also rumoured to be in the running, and we think either one of them would make a good choice.

Whoever the NZC go with, it honestly has to be better than Bracewell.

He's done nothing for the development of cricket in New Zealand - and, ultimately, isn't that what a coach is supposed to do?

So -the All Blacks Assistant Coach, Steve Hansen, is contemplating stepping down - with his eyes fixed on the vacant Crusaders job, which is still up for grabs.

Hansen has experience coaching in Canterbury, leading them to two NPC championships in 1997 and 2001, before heading to Wales to coach their national side in 2002 and 2003.

After coaching Wales in the 2003 World Cup, Hansen joined Graham Henry and Wayne Smith as an Assistant Coach of the All Blacks. Now, though, it seems that he has aspirations to coach the All Blacks after the 2011 World Cup.

With so many of our top coaches now working overseas, Hansen sees the opportunity of coaching the All Blacks beyond 2011 as a very real possibility.

Coaching the Crusaders would be a great opportunity for Hansen to develop his own coaching skills, and really - what better place to do it than with the seven-time champs?

Todd Blackadder has been rumoured to be in the running for an Assistant job under Hansen, as has Aussie Maclean. Blackadder would make a great deputy, as he has strong ties to the region and would help some of the die-hard Robbie Deans fans accept the idea of Hansen coaching in Canterbury (Hansen's links to Henry may well make him unpopular down south...).

Blackadder has also been linked with Mark Hammet, who Deans believed should be the next Crusaders coach - but we think it would be better for him to join Hansen's team, as Hammet's coaching credentials are limited.

While Hansen has not officially put his hand up, the chances of him leaving the All Blacks environment are high. If he is successful in his bid, he may leave the All Blacks after the Tri Nations to concentrate on the Crusaders role, missing the end of year tour to the Northern Hemisphere.

Of course, Hansen would love to keep his role with the All Blacks, too - but you can't have your cake and eat it, can you?