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Ricky Ponting named Australia's assistant coach for T20 tri-series

Ricky Ponting will act as assistant coach for the Australian Twenty20 team. (Photo by Ryan Pierse - CA/Cricket Australia/Getty Images)
Expert
9th January, 2018
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Ricky Ponting has been confirmed on Tuesday as assistant coach of Australia for their upcoming T20 tri-series against New Zealand and England.

With the Test series against South Africa starting shortly afterwards, many of the regular support staff for the Australian team including Graeme Hick, David Saker and Brad Haddin will already be en route to the rainbow nation.

The tri-series begins on February 3, with the final set to be played in Auckland on February 21. The first Test against the Proteas is scheduled for March 1.

Ponting will fill the void, working under regular head coach Darren Lehman while Troy Cooley and Matthew Mott will also be part of the support staff.

The former Australian captain has experience serving as a T20 assistant coach for Australia.

He was part of the support staff last year for a series against Sri Lanka, which finished less than 24 hours before a Test series started away from home against India.

Ponting said he was looking forward to the opportunity.

“I’m delighted to be involved with the Australian squad again for what should be a terrific series against England and New Zealand.

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“I loved working with the squad last year against Sri Lanka and I can’t wait to be working alongside Darren, Troy and Matthew this time around.

“Watching the Big Bash League in my role as a commentator has shown me we have a wealth of talent available to us in this format and a tri-series like this will give us a great chance to establish a pattern of play that works best for the players.”

Ponting has plenty of experience coaching at a T20 level, having been in charge of the Antigua Hawksbills in 2013, before leading the Mumbai Indians to the IPL title.

He has also been named coach of the Delhi Daredevils for the next two seasons of the IPL.

Darren Lehmann said he was looking forward to having Ponting on board.

“Ricky has a fantastic cricket brain and when it comes to T20 cricket there aren’t many better in the world given his experience around the world, as a player, a coach and a commentator.

“It’s an exciting prospect for us, as coaches, to have the chance to take advantage of Ricky’s T20 knowledge and, for the players, the chance to work with one of Australia’s all-time greats will be just as exciting for them.

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“The ICC World T20 trophy is the only one that’s missing from the trophy cabinet at Cricket Australia and it would be great for us to put that right during the next edition of the tournament on home soil in 2020.

The appointment also comes at a time when uncertainty around who may be Australia’s next head coach in all three formats reigns, with Lehmann announcing his intentions to stand down at the end of the 2019 Ashes.

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