LEGENDARY Worcestershire run-machine Graeme Hick has taken up a role with the Old Enemy and will be helping to develop the next generation of Australian batsmen.

Following the end of his New Road career, the veteran of 65 Tests swapped the foothills of the Malverns for life on the Gold Coast.

Now, Cricket Australia have turned to Hick, who takes up his new role later this month, in a bid to help boost the nation’s legions of Twenty20-obsessed young guns to develop their skills in the longer format.

“There was only one person who had scored two hundreds in Sheffield Shield cricket by mid-January, not including the guys that played in the Test matches,” Hick said.

“That’s unheard of, and when I spoke to Stuey Law and Troy Cooley, that was something they identified. Having put together some biggish scores in my time, they thought I could pass on some of my methods.

“Players can go from Grade cricket to Test cricket very quickly. The way the Australia team is at the moment I would think that a lot of these younger guys will feel they have a real chance of making it into the side in the next 18 months or so.”