Marcus North has been confirmed as England Men's new national selector, replacing Luke Wright who stood down from the role at the end of the T20 World Cup earlier this year.
North, who has served as Durham's director of cricket since 2018, was announced as the ECB confirmed a 15-man squad for the first Test against New Zealand, which gets underway at Lord's on June 4.
A left-handed batter raised in Western Australia, North featured in 21 Tests and two ODIs, making two of his five centuries during the 2009 Ashes. He featured for six separate counties across his career, and will oversee English domestic cricket in his new role, working closely with England Men's red- and white-ball squads, as well as England managing director, Rob Key, performance director, Ed Barney, and player identification lead, David Court.
His remit will extend to decisions regarding England Men's central contracts, and the county scouting network. He will also collaborate with the ECB science and medicine team on player availability, workload management and programme planning.
"I am absolutely delighted to be appointed England Men's mational selector," North said. "It is a tremendous honour to be entrusted with a role of such responsibility, and I am excited to contribute to the continued development of the England Men's teams.
"Having spent the past several years working closely within the county game, I have seen first-hand the strength and depth of talent across the domestic system. I'm looking forward to working closely with the counties in identifying, supporting and selecting players who can thrive at International level.
"The opportunity to help shape the future of England Men's teams is one I'm incredibly passionate about. I'm excited to get started working closely with Rob, Brendon, Ben, Harry and the wider performance team in building squads that can compete consistently and successfully across all formats.
"I've thoroughly enjoyed my time at Durham and would like to thank Tim Bostock for handing me the opportunity back in 2018. I will be forever grateful for the support shown by the board, players, staff and supporters over the past eight years."
North's appointment comes after a long search for Wright's successor, but Key said that his credentials were ideal for the role.
"We were really pleased with the strength and depth of candidates throughout what was a thorough and rigorous process for the national selector role," Key said. "Marcus stood out through his knowledge of the domestic game, his experience across different environments and the relationships he has built throughout county cricket over a long period of time.
"He has been heavily involved in the county game for many years, both as a player and more recently during eight successful years as director of cricket at Durham, where he has earned huge respect across the game.
"Marcus also brings international pedigree from his time playing for Australia, and we believe his experience and understanding of the player pathway and high performance environment will be a real asset to England Men's cricket."