Daniel Vettori joins Middlesex as T20 coach

Former New Zealand spin bowler Daniel Vettori is all set to join county side Middlesex as the T20 coach. He will be the man in-charge for Middlesex’s campaign in next T20 blast. Vettori signed a three-year contract with the club recently. The veteran spinner is currently plying his coaching trade with the Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash League. He is also the head coach of the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League. Certainly, Daniel Vettori is not short on experience.

The 37-year old Kiwi will be working with head coach Richard Scott, and assistant coaches Richard Johnson and David Houghton. As quoted in ESPNcricinfo, Daniel Vettori was delighted to join the Middlesex camp. He cited that it is always a pleasure to visit Lord’s. He further said that he is impressed with the work ethic of the team. Middlesex had lost the quarterfinals last year.

“I am very excited about the opportunity to be involved with Middlesex in their pursuit of a T20 title. 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,” quoted the former New Zealand player.

The team head coach Richard Scott also expressed his happiness on being joined by Vettori. He said that he is looking forward to a good partnership with Vettori to help the team lift the title this season.

“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,” he quoted.

The Middlesex CCC Managing Director, Angus Frazer, believes that the addition of Daniel Vettori to the camp will only help the camp get stronger and better. Signing Vettori has come up as a consequence of long discussions and debates with a lot of people.

“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?,” asked Mr. Fraser.

“We spoke to a number of people before signing Daniel and everyone was extremely positive about him not just as a coach, but as a person too. His values and outlook match those of Middlesex CCC and we are all looking forward to working with him,” he added further.