"I'm on record saying I'm interested in doing the Twenty20 job for Australia if it came up and I can make it fit in and work."
Saturday 10 February 2018 13:43, UK
Ricky Ponting says he is open to becoming the head coach of Australia's Twenty20 side.
Ponting, 43, is assisting Darren Lehmann during the ongoing Tri-Series against New Zealand and England - Australia securing a spot in the final courtesy of a seven-wicket win over England in Melbourne on Saturday.
Lehmann will leave his all-formats coaching role after the 2019 Ashes - and Ponting has revealed he would like to lead his country in the shortest format.
"I'm on record saying I'm interested in doing the Twenty20 job for Australia if it came up and I can make it fit in and work," said Ponting, who coached Mumbai Indians to the IPL title in 2015.
"I want to have as much family time as I can - not to be on the road as much as when I was playing. I'll have some challenges making it all work but that's what I want to do and I really enjoy every moment of it.
"There's a few things I just want to get ticked off from CA [Cricket Australia] first as far my thoughts are on how we can become a better, more explosive, consistent team.
"There will always be challenges for coaches - it's probably inevitable that there will be different white-ball coaches to red-ball coaches as this game keeps developing.
"I'm sure they [CA] are doing everything in their power now to remain consistently the best team in the world in all three forms. We've never reached that in the T20 side of things."
Reflecting on his role in the current Australia T20 set-up, Ponting said: "All I've tried to do is let everyone know how good I think they are and work with them closely on their games, speak openly and honestly with them, and have some fun.
"You have to find a way to improve day in, day out and be the best you can be and drag some other blokes along who might not be reaching the heights you think they can."
Watch the rest of the Twenty20 Tri-Series live on Sky Sports Cricket, starting with New Zealand v England, live from 5.30am on Tuesday.
