Published: Jun 01, 2022, 02:02 PM (IST)
Edited: Jun 01, 2022, 02:03 PM (IST)
Melbourne: Australia’s head coach Andrew McDonald will miss the opening week of the Sri Lanka tour after testing positive for Covid-19.
The Australian cricket team will go on their first Sri Lanka tour in six years. It is a three-format tour as the visitors will play T20I, ODI and Test series against Sri Lanka.
McDonald returned the positive test on Tuesday afternoon ahead of Australia’s T20 squad’s departure to the island nation on Wednesday, the first series since McDonald was appointed the permanent successor to Justin Langer, Cricket Australia reported.
He will isolate for seven days in Melbourne before joining up with the squad. The head coach is expected to be with the side before the second T20I on June 8.
Assistant coach Michael Di Venuto will coach the squad for the first match of the T20 series. The players who are in ODI and Australia A squads will fly in later this week. The first match of the tour will be played next Tuesday.
Australia will go to Sri Lanka with a new backroom staff. The team will have three new assistant coaches, a new physiotherapist and a new psychologist on board.
Former pacer Clint McKay will be part of the coaching staff for the T20 and ODI series during the tour. Spin coach Sri Sriram will be with the team as well.
Former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori and ex Melbourne Renegades assistant Andre Borovec will be the full-time assistant coaches of the team during the two-match Test series in Galle that begins on June 29.
Borovec will also coach Australia A for a portion of the tour which includes two one-day games and two four-day matches. He will be assisted by Sunny Kaliyar, whose usual role is a performance analyst with the women’s team.
Ben Sawyer resigned from the position of the assistant coach of Australia A after getting a job as the head coach of New Zealand’s women’s team. Nick Jones will be the physiotherapist, while Mary Spillane will be the psychologist in the backroom staff.
