Australia assistant coach departs to take Tasmania job

Australia men's assistant coach Jeff Vaughan has left his post to return to the head coaching role at Tasmania on a five-year deal.

Less than a year after joining the national set-up, Vaughan has decided to return to the Tigers having previously led the state's Sheffield Shield team between 2019 and 2021.

The news comes a day after Andrew McDonald was confirmed as head coach of the national men's team on a four-year deal.

Vaughan was appointed an assistant of the national team alongside Michael Di Venuto last July and was part of Australia's recent T20 World Cup win, their home Ashes triumph and historic Test series win in Pakistan.

The Tigers had not been able to find a replacement for Vaughan following his exit last year, with Ali de Winter, Greg Shipperd and Adam Griffith working with the Tassie men's side last summer.

Cricket.com.au understands former South Africa coach and current Bangladesh coach Russell Domingo had been lined up to take on the role, but the deal fell through at the last minute.

"I feel very fortunate with how everything has worked out," Vaughan said in a statement.

"I have been connected to the program throughout and am confident that I have continued to develop my coaching and leadership skillset to assist the development of the Tigers’ program wholistically and for the players as individuals.

"I'm incredibly grateful to Cricket Australia for the opportunity, and to Cricket Tasmania for being so open-minded about my return, so I really can't wait to just get stuck in and am looking forward to maintaining the direction of the program for an extended period of time."

The return of Vaughan comes after the departure in January of Griffith, the head coach of the Hobart Hurricanes and Tasmania's Director of Coaching.

The Hurricanes have yet to announce Griffith's replacement as head coach.

"We’re thrilled to have Jeff returning to the helm of our male Tigers program,” Cricket Tasmania CEO Dominic Baker said in a statement.

"We clearly want the best available candidate for the role who also understands and fits with the culture of our organisation, and there’s no doubt that Jeff ticks both those boxes.

"We’ve all watched the progress of the Australian men’s program over the summer, and there’s nothing more to be said about it other than it was a sparkling success, and Jeff was a part of that.

"Ali has done a fantastic job under really difficult and often uncertain circumstances this year, but the fact that the transition from Jeff to Ali was so smooth was due to the fact that Jeff has such a solid vision in place that everyone was on board with.

"We did have a candidate nearly ready to go back in December that unfortunately fell through, however the timing of everything has been quite serendipitous, as with Jeff obviously knowing the program and the players so well, the transition now should be seamless."