WORCESTERSHIRE legend Graeme Hick can’t wait to return to New Road — a ground which he graced as a batsman for 25 years — with the Australian under 19s squad next summer.

Hick, now 48, is a high performance coach at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane with a responsibility for developing and implementing a national batting programme and working with development teams.

He will be with the under 19s for their one-day international against their England counterparts at New Road on Saturday, August 22.

Hick, who played 65 Tests for England, scored 136 centuries and 158 half-centuries in amassing 41,112 first-class runs at an average of 52.23 in addition to 22,059 List ‘A’ runs at an average of 41.30.

He played his final game for Worcestershire in a Pro40 League match against Middlesex at Kidderminster in 2008, batting at number five.

Skipper Daryl Mitchell and Gareth Andrew are the only members of that side in the current squad at New Road.

Hick is guaranteed a warm welcome and said: “I’m really excited and looking forward to returning to the club in a cricketing capacity.

“New Road is a place that means a great deal to me and my family.

“It gave me my opportunity when I was starting out so, in some way, it is great to be coming back with a talented group of players that are starting out with their careers ahead of them.

“That all said, I’m most looking forward to seeing the changes at the ground and the New Road family.

“It is a special place with special people and I’m especially looking forward to another piece of cake from the ladies’ pavilion!”

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board have applied to the International Cricket Council to have spinner Saeed Ajmal’s revamped action officially tested at one of their bio-mechanic centres.

Saeed has undergone three unofficial tests at Loughborough on his remodelled action and now hopes to obtain ICC clearance so he can play in the 2015 World Cup.

Worcestershire director of cricket Steve Rhodes has indicated he would like to re-sign the 37-year-old for next season if the test proves successful and he spoke to him last month.

Saeed, who took 63 wickets in the LV= County Championship last summer, was suspended from international cricket after being reported during the Sri Lanka and Pakistan Test in August.

He then failed a bio-mechanical analysis of his action but has been striving to fall in line with ICC guidelines, working recently with Saqlain Mushtaq in England.

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shaharyar Khan said: “Ajmal called me after his unofficial tests and showed confidence he will get cleared.”