Ponting named assistant Australia coach for T20 series

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has been named as an assistant to national coach Darren Lehmann for the triangular Twenty20 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.

CONFIRMED: Ricky Ponting takes the next step in his move to take over as Australia's T20 coach for the World Cup https://t.co/3EuN5LLS3c pic.twitter.com/WpM58JYWQz

— telegraph_sport (@telegraph_sport) January 9, 2018

Troy Cooley and Matthew Mott will also join Lehmann's Twenty20 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."

Ricky Ponting handed assistant coach role with the Australian T20 team https://t.co/au94XIAxHh pic.twitter.com/0RgAIPf8Ky

— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) January 9, 2018

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. Steve Smith's side regained the Ashes with a 4-0 series result that ended on Monday with an innings and 123-run victory in the fifth and final test in Sydney. They face England in five one-day internationals starting on Sunday in Melbourne before the triangular Twenty20 series begins on Feb. 3 in Sydney.