Ponting named Australia assistant coach for T20I tri-series
Ricky Ponting has been appointed as Australia's assistant coach for the upcoming T20 International tri-series between England and New Zealand. The former Australia captain will work as head coach Darren Lehmann's deputy, while Troy Cooley and Matthew Mott have also been added to the team of support staff.
Australia will play two games against New Zealand and England. They play New Zealand at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 3 February and in Auckland on 16 February. The two games against England are scheduled in at the Blundstone Arena, Hobart on 7 February and at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne on 10 February.
Commenting on his appointment, Ponting said: "I’m delighted to be involved with the Australian squad again for what should be a terrific series against England and New Zealand. 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."
The three-time World Cup-winner has been involved with the Big Bash League as a commentator and he admitted that Australia had a vast talent pool to choose from.
"Watching the KFC 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 said.
Head coach Lehmann welcomed Ponting's appointment and said: "Ricky has a fantastic cricket brain and when it comes to Twenty20 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 Twenty20 knowledge and, for the players, the chance to work with one of Australia’s all-time greats will be just as exciting for them," he added.
While Australia have won the ICC Cricket World Cup a record five times, the ICC World T20 trophy has eluded them. With the World T20 scheduled at home, Lehmann spoke highly of Australia's chances.
"The ICC World Twenty20 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," Lehmann said.
"To do that the planning and preparation has to start now and so the chance to have this run of matches against two top sides in conditions we’re set to face in two years and for us to have Ricky as one of our backroom staff is great news."
Ponting has had a distinguished career as Australia cricketer and captain, having scored more than 27,000 international runs and led his side to World Cup victories in 2003 and 2007. Ponting has also coached the Mumbai Indians team in the Indian Premier League and was recently appointed as the coach of the Delhi Daredevils for IPL 2018.