By Emily Goddard

Andy Smith has been named as the new high performance director for Hockey Australia ©Hockey AustraliaEnglish former county cricketer Andy Smith has been named as the new high performance director for Hockey Australia.

The 45-year-old former Surrey County Cricket Club athlete replaces Trish Heberle and takes up the role immediately after working as Hockey Australia's men's high performance programme operations manager for the last six years.

He has previously worked as programme manager and coordinator for the Western Australian Institute of Sport and as a project manager in the development department of the Western Australia Cricket Association, as well as working for the England and Wales Cricket Board in its international team and first class cricket operations departments.

Australia's men and women secured the hockey gold medals at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games ©Getty ImagesAustralia's men and women secured the hockey gold medals at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games ©Getty Images


"I'm looking forward to working with Andy in his new role as we continue to strive for our vision of consistent Australian team performance and team success at our benchmark events," said Hockey Australia chief executive Cam Vale.

"Keeping our men's and women's teams - the Kookaburras and Hockeyroos - at the forefront of world hockey and developing the talent of the future." 

Australia's hockey teams have enjoyed considerable success on the world stage in recent years, having secured a number of honours including the men's bronze medal at the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games, the men's 2014 and 2010 World Cups, and last year's Women's World Cup silver medal.

They also secured both the male and female titles at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

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