Dale Benkenstein: Gloucestershire name ex-South Africa all-rounder as head coach on three-year deal

Dale Benkenstein led Hampshire to two T20 finals days during his tenure as head coach

Gloucestershire have appointed Dale Benkenstein as their new head coach on a three-year deal.

The former South Africa all-rounder, 47, was head coach at Hampshire between 2014-16, leading them to two T20 Blast finals days and promotion to Division One of the County Championship.

He has coached within the South Africa national team set-up and was most recently batting coach at Lancashire.

As a player, Benkenstein spent nine-years at Durham and was named captain.

Ian Harvey has been acting as Gloucestershire's interim head coach since March this year, following the departure of head coach Richard Dawson after six years to take up the position as elite performance pathway coach with the England and Wales Cricket Board.

"I am looking forward to working with a well-balanced squad of youth and experience and I feel the club as a whole have the ingredients to be consistently successful in all formats," said Benkenstein.

"It is exciting to be back involved in English county cricket where I have many fond memories."

After starting his playing career in South Africa with Natal and later Dolphins, Benkenstein joined Durham in 2005 and went on to score 9,000 first-class runs.

He captained the club to their first major title in 2007 by winning the Friends Provident Trophy, as well as back-to-back County Championship titles in 2008 and 2009.

"We're hugely excited to be welcoming Dale to Gloucestershire; he brings with him a wealth of experience and a knowledge of what it takes to achieve success on the cricket field," said Gloucestershire chief executive Will Brown.

"It's no secret that we are hungry for trophies and we're certain that with someone of Dale's calibre as head coach, we'll be in the best possible position to challenge for silverware during the next three years."