Ricky Ponting has been named Australia’s assistant coach for the Twenty20 International tri-series against New Zealand and England later this month, Cricket Australia confirmed on Tuesday (January 9).
Ponting has held the role previously as well when he was working with Jason Gillespie and Justin Langer during the T20I series against Sri Lanka, while Darren Lehmann and others were in India preparing for the Test series.
“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.”
Ponting also acknowledged he would love to take up the role of head coach at a later stage if the role is split in various 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,” he said.
“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.”
Australia will take on New Zealand on February 3 in the first game of the series and the final will be played on February 21.
.){kind=link}