Jason Gillespie to assist Justin Langer as Australia Twenty20 coach
Thursday 29 December 2016 08:51, UK
Jason Gillespie has joined Australia's coaching staff as an assistant to interim Twenty20 head coach Justin Langer.
Adelaide Strikers coach Gillespie, who had five successful seasons in charge of Yorkshire, will link up with Langer for a three-match series against Sri Lanka in February.
The pair are stepping in for Darren Lehmann who, along with assistant David Saker, will be preparing Australia's Test team for their series against India.
Gillespie played 71 Test matches for Australia, taking 259 wickets, and he also scored a double-century back in 2006 against Bangladesh having come in as a night-watchman.
After being regularly linked with England's coaching role, Gillespie left Yorkshire at the end of the county season and returned to Australia on a full-time basis
"I'm just buzzing to get this role - it really is an exciting opportunity - and I'm humbled to be thought of by Cricket Australia in this regard," said Gillespie.
"The chance to be working with Justin is terrific. Of course he's a friend and a former team-mate, but he's also someone who's had success in this form of the game.
"With some players likely to be away in India it really will be a shop window for players from the Big Bash League to showcase their skills, and to show the selectors and the Australian public what they can do. It's a chance for those selectors to see how, in the case of any new players, they deal with international cricket."
Australia and Sri Lanka open their series in Melbourne on February 17 and then play in Geelong two days later and at the Adelaide Oval on February 22, a day before their Test series starts in India.
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