Former Canterbury and New Zealand batsman Peter Fulton will take over as BLACKCAPS batting coach following this year’s ICC Cricket World Cup in England and Wales.

The 40-year-old will assume the role from Craig McMillan (another former Canterbury and New Zealand batsman) who is stepping down after almost five years in the job.

Fulton played 84 internationals for New Zealand as a top-order batsman with the last of his 23 Tests coming in July 2014.

Fulton retired as Canterbury’s first-class leader in matches (121), runs (8719) and catches (128), as well as their all-time top T20 run scorer (1708) and is also the only player to score a triple century for Canterbury, smashing an unbeaten 301 against Auckland in 2003.

BLACKCAPS coach Gary Stead said Fulton was the stand-out applicant for the role.

“We’re delighted to have Pete come on board after the World Cup and are confident he will be a good fit for our environment.

“We had a thorough process and utilised our senior players to help assess all the candidates.

“Pete obviously has a good understanding of batting, but he also demonstrated a clear vision for helping our elite batsmen.

“He’s shown he has the coaching skills through his work with the New Zealand Under 19s and our winter training squads, while we know from his playing days that he will certainly add to our team culture.”

Fulton’s term will coincide with Stead’s NZC contract which runs until the end of the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia next November.

The Canterbury stalwart said he was honoured to be offered the job.

“Like many Kiwis, I’ve watched and admired the way the team’s gone about their business in recent years and so it’s pretty special to be invited back into the set-up,” he said.

“We’ve obviously got some really talented batsmen in the country and I’m looking forward to working with them to see how they can continue improving their games.”

Fulton begins the role on July 1.