Former India coach John Wright [Images] has been touted as the first choice to replace John Bracewell as New Zealand [Images] coach after the New Zealand Cricket Board openly invited the former Kiwi batsman to take the reins of the senior side.

With Bracewell's contract with the NZC expiring in April next year, Board's Chief Executive Justin Vaughan said if Wright was ready to return to the international arena, he was most welcome.

"John (Wright) is responsible for player development from under-17s to international level and is doing a great job with that. I guess it depends whether he wants to go back on the road again," Vaughan was quoted as saying in the local media. 

Wright, who had an outstanding stint as coach of the Indian team from 2000 to 2005, is presently working at NZC's high performance centre at Lincoln.

He was later elevated to the post of acting manager after Australian hockey legend Ric Charlesworth left the job to join as Technical Director of Indian hockey.

Wright, who had coached Sourav Ganguly-led Indian side to the finals of the 2003 ICC [Images] Cricket World Cup in South Africa, has not ruled out the possibility of accepting the offer.

Among other contenders for the Kiwi national team's coach are Canterbury's South African coach Dave Nosworthy and Auckland's Mark O'Donnell.