The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) today appointed the former Leicestershire batsman Tim Boon as the new Coach of the NatWest England U19 team.

Boon replaces the current Coach John Abrahams who has decided to step down from the post in order to spend more time with his family. Abrahams will continue to work for the ECB's Technical Department.

The former Lancashire batsman has enjoyed considerable success during his three-year tenure as Coach leading the team to victory in the U19 World Cup in South Africa and maintaining an unbeaten record in Test series against Pakistan (twice), Zimbabwe, South Africa and New Zealand.

Announcing the appointment, the ECB's Technical Director Hugh Morris said: ``John has played a key role in developing our most talented young cricketers over the past three years and the team's impressive record of results during that period speaks volumes for his talents as a coach.

``As a National Coach and Coach to our England U17 team, Tim Boon has shown himself to be an excellent communicator and innovator and we are confident that he will be able to build on the sound foundations laid by John.''

The NatWest England U19 team will play three Test Matches and three One Day Internationals against Australia U19s later this summer.

Contributed by William Turrell (william@cricinfo.com)