Australia confirm backroom coaching staff changes

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 will coach Australia A in Sri Lanka prior to the Test Series alongside Australian women’s team assistant coach Ben Sawyer and Sunny Kaliyar.

Former Test and Victoria seamer Clint McKay will join the coaching staff for the T20 and ODI component of the tour, as previously revealed by cricket.com.au, along with McDonald, batting coach Michael Di Venuto and spin coach Sri Sriram before Borovec and Vettori commence their roles for the Test series.

Vettori will continue as head coach of the Birmingham Phoenix in England’s The Hundred.

Image Id: 20E33DE3315B4B9A80EF570639DC7B88 Image Caption: Vettori works with Australia white-ball squad members ahead of their departure to Pakistan in March // Jonathon Rundell-cricket.com.au

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.

"Andre has been fantastic for the group when he has been involved as an extremely skilled and experienced high-performance coach," McDonald said.

"He is a great fit culturally and brings the skills to complement our high-performance specialists.

"I have worked with Daniel previously and could not speak more highly of his approach, work ethic and rapport he brings. His experience and balanced style are well documented. He is a great fit and will bring an enormous amount of knowledge to the team."

Image Id: AAE28AC40EEB4CCF84CA006DA7DC8303 Image Caption: Borovec oversees an intra-squad match during the Caribbean white-ball tour in 2021 // Clancy Sinnamon-cricket.com.au

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