Newly-appointed Australia cricket coach Andrew McDonald has picked New Zealand legend Daniel Vettori among his two new lieutenants. McDonald announced the names of former Black Caps skipper Vettori and highly-regarded Australian Andre Borovec as his new assistant coaches on Tuesday. Vettori and Borovec will commence their roles next month ahead of Australia's tour of Sri Lanka, with the duo earning their upgrades to replace outgoing assistant Jeff Vaughan and the freshly-promoted McDonald. Trans-Tasman neighbours Australia and New Zealand share a healthy rivalry in cricket and rugby and McDonald's move to take Vettori onboard may surprise many.
However, the former Kiwi spinner Vettori has worked alongside McDonald in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with Royal Challengers Bangalore, while the pair recently strengthened their working relationship when Vettori worked with Australia during the white-ball component of the historic tour of Pakistan, said a report on the ICC website. "I have worked with Daniel previously and could not speak more highly of his approach, work ethic, and rapport he brings," McDonald was quoted as saying by the Australian media. "His experience and balanced style are well documented. He is a great fit and will bring an enormous amount of knowledge to the team." Vettori said he is looking forward to commencing his new role. "I was really impressed with what I saw of the group in Pakistan in the way they approached preparation, planning, and playing," he said.
"It's a very strong and unified group which has the potential to have a very rewarding and hopefully successful period ahead." Borovec also has experience working alongside McDonald, with the pair having forged a relationship at the domestic level with Victoria and the Melbourne Renegades. "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." McDonald will work alongside batting coach Michael Di Venuto, spin coach Sridharan Sriram, a former India player, and former Australia quick Clint McKay during the white-ball component of the series, with Vettori and Borovec to then commence once the Test matches and A series begin.