The former New Zealand Test captain, Ken Rutherford, has succeeded Mike Hendrick as Ireland's national coach, the Irish Cricket Union announced yesterday.

Rutherford will take up his appointment in the spring and will join the national squad for April's six-nations tournament in Zimbabwe.

Rutherford's contract extends to the ICC Trophy in Toronto in 2001, in which Ireland will be striving to qualify for the World Cup, to be staged in South Africa in 2003. Hendrick held the position from 1995 until last September, when the ICU announced his resignation.

Rutherford (34) is currently playing with Gauteng in South Africa. "My principal aim will be to take Ireland through to the World Cup finals in 2003 - they almost made it to last summer's finals in England," he said yesterday.

Despite the mutterings of his detractors, Hendrick - Ireland's first full-time national coach - steered the team to Triple Crown and European Cup victories. Under Hendrick's guidance, Ireland came within one match of qualifying for the World Cup, in the ICC tournament in Kuala Lumpur in 1997.

Rutherford played in 56 Tests and 121 one-day internationals for New Zealand. He scored three Test centuries for an average of 27 as well as two centuries, average 29, at one-day level; last season he hit two centuries for Gauteng, for an average of 62.

He played for New Zealand against Ireland at Downpatrick in 1990 and again at Comber and Malahide in 1994.

Rutherford will continue his career with Gauteng next season between October and January 2001, in that time making periodic visits to Ireland to check on the national squad's winter training. Until he takes up his appointment next April, Bobby Rao, the ICU's batting coach, will be in charge.