Gareth Berg has been named as the new Head Coach of the Italian National team.

The South African born player will continue to play for the Azzurri as well as his English county Northamptonshire.

(Gareth Berg)

Berg, who turns 40 later this month has made 20 international appearances for Italy since his debut in the T20 World Cup Qualifiers in the UAE.

He has scored 459 runs at exactly 27, scoring three half centuries - his highest score of 90 coming against USA.  

He has also claimed 28 wickets at 16.20, which included a hat-trick against Namibia.

Berg will work together with the current coaching staff and alongside Carl Sandri, the former Italian and Sydney Thunder all-rounder, who has been appointed Senior High Performance Coach.

“I'm very honored to have been appointed as Head Coach of our national team, alongside Carl Sandri as Senior High Performance Coach," said Berg in the official press release.

"We have an excellent management set-up and coaching structure to begin paving the way for great things for the future of Italian Cricket.

(Wicket for Gareth Berg)

"We want to take professionalism and passion for playing to the next level with our national team.

"I want to inspire the next generation of Italian cricketers and leave a legacy for them to be proud of, for them to grow up wanting to represent their national team - just as we do. Come on Azzurri! "