New Zealand legend Daniel Vettori has been confirmed as one of the Australian men’s team’s new full-time assistant coaches.
The former left-arm orthodox allrounder joins Victorian Andre Borovec, as revealed by cricket.com.au on Saturday, as the two new assistant coaches following the elevation of Andrew McDonald to head coach and the departure of Jeff Vaughan to coach Tasmania.
Vettori has been appointed to the permanent position following a stint with the team during the white-ball leg of the Pakistan tour.
The 43-year-old, who played 113 Tests and 295 ODIs for New Zealand across an illustrious 18-year international career, joins Australia’s coaching ranks ahead of a subcontinent-dominated schedule across the next 18 months, which includes tours to Sri Lanka next month and India early next year, along with a 50-over World Cup in India starting in October 2023.
“I was really impressed with what I saw of the group in Pakistan in the way they approached preparation, planning and playing. It’s a very strong and unified group which has the potential to have a very rewarding and hopefully successful period ahead,” Vettori said.
Borovec and Vettori will commence their roles with the national side leading into the two-Test series of the Qantas Tour of Sri Lanka.
Borovec’s appointment as a full-time assistant coach is rare given most coaches who progress to international level generally have playing experience at least at domestic level.
The 44-year-old former teacher and ex-first-grade wicketkeeper with Geelong in Victorian Premier Cricket, has become a highly-rated mentor with Victoria, the Melbourne Renegades and, more recently, with Australia on limited-overs series during the past 12 months.
He had a formative influence on McDonald’s own coaching style when he played for Geelong during the twilight of his career while Borovec was coach of the club. He also has a long association with white-ball captain Aaron Finch, having also played with him at Geelong.
Borovec, who was part of Australia’s coaching staff during the 1-0 Test series victory in Pakistan under then interim head coach McDonald, said he was extremely honoured to be given the full-time opportunity.
“I have enjoyed the times I have been involved with the team and look forward to working full time with the coaching group, players and staff to continually strive for improvement and ultimately success,” he said.
Additional appointments to the men’s team support staff include Nick Jones as physiotherapist and Mary Spillane as psychologist, who will start ahead of the Sri Lankan tour.
Qantas Tour of Sri Lanka, 2022
T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner, Matthew Wade
June 7: First T20, Colombo
June 8: Second T20, Colombo
June 11: Third T20, Kandy
ODI squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner
June 14: First ODI, Kandy
June 16: Second ODI, Kandy
June 19: Third ODI, Colombo
June 21: Fourth ODI, Colombo
June 24: Fifth ODI, Colombo
Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner
June 29 – July 3: First Test, Galle
July 8-12: Second Test, Galle
Australia A fixtures
Squad: Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Pete Handscomb, Aaron Hardie, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Henry Hunt, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Nic Maddinson, Todd Murphy, Josh Philippe, Matt Renshaw, Jhye Richardson, Tanveer Sangha, Mark Steketee
June 8: First one-day game v Sri Lanka A, Colombo
June 10: Second one-day game v Sri Lanka A, Colombo
June 14-17: first-class tour match v Sri Lanka A, Hambantota
June 21-24: first-class tour match v Sri Lanka A, Hambantota
