 Gloucestershire became England's top one-day side under Bracewell |
When John Bracewell took over as Gloucestershire coach in 1998, his mind was already on higher things. Whilst committing himself to a club which had not won a trophy for 12 years, he made no secret of his ambitions to one day test himself in international cricket.
"I told them 'I'll be using you as much as you'll be using me'. I wanted to come here to learn to be an international coach," he said during an interview in September 2000.
The Aucklander's comments came at the end of a season which saw Gloucestershire lift three one-day trophies.
Having achieved a B&H Cup-C&G Trophy double in 1999, they repeated the feat the following summer and became National League champions for good measure.
They were successes achieved as a result of an unquenchable team spirit, careful preparation and well executed game plans, rather than a reliance on star names.
The current New Zealand team is imbued with similar qualities, although the likes of Stephen Fleming, Chris Cairns and Shane Bond are rather more than average international cricketers.
And Bracewell now has the task of building on the impressive results achieved by Denis Aberhart after being appointed as New Zealand's new coach.
Under Aberhart, they pulled off a first-ever series win in the West Indies, home Test and one-day victories over India and a drawn Test series in Australia.
Earlier this year, they were unable to progress beyond the Super Six phase of the World Cup, but gained consolation by winning a triangular one-day series in Sri Lanka.
Bracewell's credentials in the one-day game speak for themselves, but can he maintain and, if possible, improve New Zealand's effectiveness in Test cricket?
Despite his best efforts, he has been unable to inspire Gloucestershire to promotion from Division Two of the County Championship, which played a part in dressing room rifts last summer.
But prior to moving to England, he steered Auckland to four provincial championships and two second-place finishes.
New Zealand officials are convinced he is the right man to take the team forward and unlike Aberhart, he can draw on the experience of playing at international level.
Bracewell was beaten into the New Zealand team by younger brother Brendon, but finally made his debut against Australia in November 1980.
 Bracewell did the 1,000 runs and 100 wickets double in Test cricket |
Although not an off-spinner out of the top drawer, he was a thoughtful bowler and good enough to take 102 wickets in 41 Test appearances.
He was the first New Zealand spinner to reach three figures in Tests - and he also managed the feat as a batsman with an innings of 110 against England at Trent Bridge in 1986.
After retiring as a player four years later, he quickly established himself as one of his country's top coaches.
Bracewell's achievements were recognised in April when he was short-listed by Sri Lanka when they were seeking a new coach for their national team.
"The timing is not right for me," he said.
"The main issue was the family one. I would probably have had to live apart from them while the contract with Sri Lanka was on and I didn't want that."
He may have passed up that chance - but the offer from home proved impossible to resist.
MMIX
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
Everyone aspires to get to the top of their profession 