Bermuda Cricket Board of Control president El James confirmed last night that the Guyanese had been chosen to replace former England and Middlesex batsman Roland Butcher who resigned from the position two weeks ago.

Harper is the brother of current West Indies Test coach Roger Harper.

He was among those who had applied after the original advertisement for the position appeared and was placed on a short list before being edged out by Butcher.

Harper will be on a three-year contract and will officially start work on May 28 when he will begin assisting Winston Reid and Clevie Wade with the preparation of the Bermuda ICC squad.

James, relieved that the position had now been filled after commitments in England forced Butcher to resign, said that Harper had all of the qualities needed to launch a sound developmental programme.

"He is impressive, he came here to visit when we were looking for a coach and he was short-listed. During the time when we were sorting out the Butcher situation we were in touch with Mr. Harper and he expressed a strong desire to come here and do what he could for local cricket,'' said James. "He has all of the credentials that we need to go into the schools and what we need to remember here is while everybody is focusing on the ICC, the ICC is a very small part of the job.''