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The Blaze have appointed former New Zealand batter Craig Cumming as head coach.

Cumming comes in to replace Chris Guest, who left the Trent Bridge-based women's side to take up the position of England women Under-19 performance lead.

The 49-year-old moves to English cricket after twice lifting the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield in the past three years as Otago Sparks coach.

He will take the helm at The Blaze at the end of Otago's latest Super Smash T20 tournament in the new year.

"Guesty’s departure gave us an opportunity to look at how we could move forward from a position of strength, having put together such a strong record over the past two summers," The Blaze’s director of cricket James Cutt told the club website.

"We conducted an exhaustive, global search to find the best candidate, and - amongst some very strong applicants - Craig’s credentials and pedigree were the most compelling.

The Blaze are among eight fully professional, county-based teams who will compete in the T20 Blast and One-Day Cup in 2025 as part of a restructure of the women's domestic game.

Cumming takes over as head coach of a side that reached three of the last four domestic finals under the previous regional format, and won the Charlotte Edwards Cup earlier this year.

"I'm ambitious to help deliver more of the success they have had in the past couple of seasons," he added.