Daniel Vettori joins Middlesex as T20 head coach

Daniel Vettori joins Middlesex as T20 head coach

Daniel Vettori, the former New Zealand captain, has been signed up in a three-year deal by English County side Middlesex as their Twenty20 head coach for the NatWest T20 Blast, the club confirmed on Friday (December 23). Vettori will work in tandem with Richard Scott, Middlesex's head coach for other formats, and the club's two assistant coaches Richard Johnson and David Houghton.

Vettori, who enjoyed an 18-year-long international career with New Zealand, has been involved with the game even after his retirement. The 37-year-old, who is currently the head coach of Indian Premier League and Big Bash League sides Royal Challengers Bangalore and Brisbane Heat respectively, expressed his delight at being involved in Middlesex's pursuit of a T20 title.

"I am very excited about the opportunity to be involved with Middlesex in their pursuit of a T20 title," Vettori said, after signing the dotted lines of a three-year deal with Middlesex. "Like all players I loved every opportunity to visit Lord's and that won't be any different as a coach but the main reason for my desire to be involved was the quality of the Middlesex playing squad. There is talent and experience in all facets of their game and I look forward to complementing their skills and all the fantastic work the current coaching staff has done," he added.

Vettori's signature comes at the back of a quarterfinal finish for Middlesex last season, where they were ousted by Northamptonshire, who eventually went on to win the title.

"I am delighted Daniel has agreed to join us as T20 coach and am very much looking forward to working closely with him and tapping in to his expertise. At Middlesex we pride ourselves on giving all the players the best possible support to develop as cricketers and people, and this is further indication that everyone at the club is driven to back up this year's Championship success by competing and winning on all fronts," Scott said.

"As a club we are always looking to improve and signing Daniel will only strengthen what is already an outstanding coaching unit. Cricket is becoming ever more specialised. The skills required by players in the different forms of the game are wide-ranging - why should coaching be any different?," Angus Fraser, Middlesex's Managing Director of Cricket, said.