Ricky Ponting has been named as the assistant coach for the Australian team that will take on England and New Zealand in a T20 tri-series. He will be assisting Darren Lehmann and had the same role last year against Sri Lanka.

Lehmann’s regular support staff comprising Graeme Hick, David Saker, and Brad Haddin will leave early to begin preparations for Australia’s tour of South Africa in March. Ponting has been in discussion with Cricket Australia for some time now to address their historically poor record in limited overs series.

The role as an assistant is only temporary, but he’s open to a full-time coaching responsibility in the future as well. Talking about the same, Ponting said, “There’s a fair bit of talk about splitting the (head coach) roles up and I’m just delighted my name is one that’s come up for that permanent role down the track. But we’ll wait and see how this goes first. I know I’d enjoy it if I had the opportunity to do it and if I could make it work in with the other commitments I have and with family time.”

Ponting recently appointed as the coach of the IPL franchise Delhi Daredevils had been part of Australia’s coaching team against Sri Lanka alongside Jason Gillespie and Justin Langer. He said, “I seem to spend my whole life around Twenty20 cricket now with commentating on the Big Bash and coaching in the IPL. I think I’ve got a pretty good grasp on the game and we’ll see how it goes.”

When asked about his relationship with Lehmann, the legendary batsman said, “We’re great mates. We enjoyed batting together and we enjoyed playing together, so I’ve no doubt at all we’ll enjoy working together as coach and assistant coach. I’ve got a bit of a coaching bug, I love being around the game and being around the best players and I love being able to feel like you’ve got some impact on the way they play their cricket.”