Ponting appointed to assist Lehmann in T20 tri-series
The former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has been appointed as the assistant coach for the upcoming T20 tri-series against England and New Zealand next month, with Troy Cooley and Matthew Mott to also join the coaching staff.
Regular support staff Graeme Hick (batting coach), David Saker (bowling) and Brad Haddin (wicketkeeping/fielding) will already be en route to South Africa for Australia’s tour that starts on March 1.
Ponting had performed a similar role alongside Justin Langer and Jason Gillespie last year, during the T20 series against Sri Lanka, while Lehmann and the Test team were in India for a Test series.
In a statement, Ponting said, "I loved working with the squad last year.
"I'm delighted to be involved with the Australian squad again for what should be a terrific series against England and New Zealand,"
Ponting has been named as the head coach of IPL franchise Delhi Daredevils. He was also in-charge of the Antigua Hawkbills in 2013 before leading Mumbai Indians to the IPL title in 2015.
"I seem to spend my whole life around Twenty20 cricket now with commentating on the Big Bash and coaching in the IPL. I think I've got a pretty good grasp on the game and we'll see how it goes," Ponting said.
"I've got a bit of a coaching bug, I love being around the game and being around the best players and I love being able to feel like you've got some impact on the way they play their cricket," he added.
The 43-year-old declared his interested in taking this role permenantly if there occurs a split in the duty across the formats.
"There's a fair bit of talk about splitting the [head coach] roles up and I'm just delighted my name is one that's come up for that permanent role down the track. But we'll wait and see how this goes first. I know I'd enjoy it if I had the opportunity to do it, if I could make it work with the other commitments I have and with family time." he said.
Ponting has been commentating in the Big Bash League for quite a while now. He shared his experience of watching the cricketers play and said, "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."
Head coach Darren Lehmann thinks this is an important step towards the World T20 in 2020. He also heaped praise on the newly added coaching member. He stated, “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."
"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," he said.
"To do that, the planning and preparation has to start now. 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." he concluded.
