Vettori steps up with Andrew McDonald not travelling to England during the coronavirus pandemic; Australian McDonald will support team from afar as consultant; Alex Gidman and James Franklin to assist Vettori, while Caroline Foster joins coaching staff for Phoenix women's team
Tuesday 22 June 2021 11:18, UK
Former New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori will be Birmingham Phoenix's head coach for the inaugural edition of The Hundred.
Australian Andrew McDonald was set for the role but will not travel to England due to issues caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, instead supporting the side from a distance as a consultant.
McDonald will be Australia's assistant coach for the white-ball games in West Indies next month, which conclude three days before The Hundred begins on July 21.
Vettori, therefore, steps up from his position as assistant coach at Phoenix but McDonald will return to the top role for the 2022 season.
Vettori - who took over 700 wickets and scored nearly 7,000 runs for New Zealand across all three formats of international cricket - has previously been head coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL, Middlesex in the Vitality Blast and Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash.
The 42-year-old said: "I feel really honoured to be asked to step up and take the reins from Andrew this year. We'll continue to communicate regularly and Andrew's advice will be vital to our success.
"Our squad looks really strong and we want to build a winning team and hopefully bring The Hundred trophy to Birmingham."
McDonald added: "It was a really hard decision not to travel over this summer and I'm extremely sad that I won't be there in person to coach the team.
"I'll be doing everything I can to give advice and support to Daniel and his team and I'm already looking forward to playing a role in person next season."
Vettori will be supported by assistants Alex Gidman and James Franklin, who are currently head coaches of Worcestershire and Durham respectively.
Ben Sawyer remains as head coach of Birmingham's women's side, while former England cricketer Caroline Foster, Dominic Ostler and Gareth Davies will be his assistants.
Foster is a former World Cup and Ashes winner and coached Western Storm to the final of the Kia Super League in 2016.
Foster said: "I feel thrilled to be working with Birmingham Phoenix this summer.
"Ben is a fantastic coach who has experience around the world and I can't wait to work with him and the players ahead of what is an incredibly exciting moment not just for Birmingham Phoenix but for women's cricket as a whole."
Elsewhere, former Durham seamer Neil Killeen has joined Darren Lehmann's coaching staff at Northern Superchargers' men's side.
Watch The Hundred live on Sky Sports Cricket from July 21. Non-Sky subscribers can follow all the action via the Sky Sports app, Sky Sports News and skysports.com.
