HAMPSHIRE Cricket legend Dimi Mascarenhas has a new job.

After quitting his role as New Zealand’s bowling coach earlier this year, the former England all rounder has been appointed coach of the Cricket Australia under-16 side.

Mascarenhas, 38, enjoyed his time under Kiwi head coach Mike Hesson, but was swayed to return to Melbourne to be back with his wife Nadine and sons Lenny, 4, and Viv, 2.

“My wife was finding it really tough,” Mascarenhas said.

Mascarenhas went scouring for a role back in the city of his childhood, and ended up landing a job after discussions with CA high-performance chief Pat Howard.

Mascarenhas – who played 20 one-day internationals and 14 Twenty20 internationals – worked with the Black Caps’ fearsome pace bowling battery during his time in New Zealand.

He was wowed by the work ethic of Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Doug Bracewell, Adam Milne and Matt Henry.

“They’re the strongest and fittest group of guys I’ve ever worked with,” he said.

“Sometimes you need to tell them to stay out of the gym because they work that hard on their fitness.”

While his role with the teenagers will only encompass a fortnight in September - that’s when the national under-17 championshps will be held - Mascarenhas hopes this opportunity will lead to more work.

Mascarenhas - who played for Hampshire between 1996-2013 - will call upon his experiences with New Zealand when talking to the kids.

But he acknowledged that coaching a team of teens will require a slight change of tack.

“[My] language will have to change. I’ll probably just have to bring in an Xbox and an iPad and they’ll be happy.”

One man who Mascarenhas could call upon in his quest to hone the juniors’ skills is his former Hampshire teammate Shane Warne.

Mascarenhas got Warne to help Kiwi spinner Mark Craig during the former’s time with the Black Caps..