The Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) appointed Australian Darren James Holder as the team coach as well as Director of Cricket.

A bachelor of health science from Griffith University, 30-year-old Darren Holder, who had worked as assistant coach and performance analyst to Australian cricket coach John Buchanan, would take up his assignment from July onwards, MCA President Ajay Shirke said in Pune, on Tuesday.

About the tenure for which Holder has been appointed, Shirke said that it is for a full cricket season that is eight months.

Besides coaching the senior team, as Director of Cricket, the Australian is expected to run a high performance cricket training programme through out Maharashtra for all age groups of cricket players, he said.

It is the second time that a foreigner has been appointed as a coach of a state cricket team. Earlier, Punjab had taken the services of well-known Pakistani cricketer Intikhab Alam.

After Greg Chappell [Images], who has formally taken over as the coach of the national cricket team, Holder becomes the second Australian to coach a team in the country in quick succession.