Australia job for Di Venuto

By Graham Hardcastle
 
Former Durham, Derbyshire and Sussex opener Michael Di Venuto has been appointed as Australia’s new batting coach, and will begin his new role on their forthcoming tour of India this month.

The 39-year-old will relinquish coaching roles with Tasmania and Twenty20 side Hobart Hurricanes, following in the footsteps of Justin Langer, who quit the national job to become coach of Western Australia and Perth Scorchers.

Stuart Law and Dean Jones have been used as interim batting coaches or ‘mentors’, as some Australians have referred to the role, since Langer departed in November.

Di Venuto, who played only nine one-day internationals for Australia in 1997, also holds an Italian passport. He retired from first-class cricket last season after joining Durham in 2007, and he scored a total of 14,870 runs in county cricket. He scored a total of 25,200 runs in a 336-match first-class career, including 60 centuries.

"We are delighted to have Michael on board," said Australia's coach Mickey Arthur. "We wanted a batting coach who was working within Australian cricket and who had also represented Australia as a player. Michael certainly brings those two aspects to the table, as well as a wealth of experience in first-class cricket.

"We felt it was important that the appointed person had demonstrated coaching experience. This aligns with our coaching pathway plans, which is an Argus review recommendation. Michael spent some time around the Test squad while we were in Hobart. We were impressed with the way he went about his work and look forward to him joining us on a full-time basis."
 

Date: 01/02/2013 09:59:52 by Graham Hardcastle
In: Today | Sussex | Durham | Derbyshire |