Ricky Ponting named assistant Australia coach for T20 series against England, New Zealand

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has been named as an assistant to national coach Darren Lehmann for the triangular T20 series against New Zealand and England next month.

Ponting had a similar role last year against Sri Lanka.

Ponting has been brought into the coaching setup as Graeme Hick, David Saker and Brad Haddin will leave early to begin preparations for Australia’s tour of South Africa in March.

Troy Cooley and Matthew Mott will also join Lehmann’s T20 coaching team.

“I’m delighted to be involved with the Australian squad again for what should be a terrific series against England and New Zealand,” Ponting said in a statement. “I loved working with the squad last year. 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.”

Australia have embarked on a series of rotating coaching appointments over the last few seasons, with Lehmann already stating he would step down after the next Ashes series in 2019.

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