Brad Haddin, Hussey brothers appointed as Australia A coaches

Former Australian wicket-keeper batsman, Brad Haddin, will be coaching Australia A from next month alongside Mike Hussey, David Hussey and Ryan Harris, who is the current assistant coach of Australia A. From August 13, Australia A, India A, South Africa A and the National Performance squad will be competing in a quadrangular One-Day series that will be played at venues Townsville and Mackay.

Haddin will work with Troy Cooley in the two four-day matches against South Africa A whereas David Hussey will then take over as assistant to Cooley in the quadrangular One-Day series. Michael Hussey meanwhile, will take over as the assistant coach with Australia A against India A in the two four-day matches.

Haddin, who had retired from international cricket in 2015, said that he is unsure of whether coaching is something he wants to go into or not, but he said he will have a try. “It’s an exciting opportunity,” he said as quoted by cricket.com.au. “I’ve been in contact with Cricket Australia for a long time now since I’ve finished playing and coaching is something I’m not sure I want to go into or not (but) it’s a good opportunity to dip your toe in the water and see if you enjoy it.”

The 38-year old said that he will take points from different coaches he had worked with in his career as he takes his job as a coach. ”You take little things from all of the coaches.” He added – “I had a wonderful time under Boof (Darren Lehmann), a great time under Tim Nielsen and I just want to see how my time goes with the players.  ”Darren and Tim are still guys I still talk to about the game.”

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The former wicket-keeper is new to the process of coaching whereas Michael Hussey has worked as a batting consultant with different teams. Haddin said – ”It’d be good to be involved all around, I think one thing you get with the Australia A set up, they don’t have quite as many resources as the Australian team so you have to get in there and get your hands dirty and work,” Haddin said. I didn’t think too much about what format it was, it was a chance to keep developing and I’ve been lucky with my sport that I’ve had contact with the pathway. It’s a great opportunity to see if this is what I want to do.”

Earlier Haddin and former Australian wicketkeeper Ian Healy mentored some of the best and talented upcoming keepers’ in Australia and Haddin said that he enjoyed that opportunity. “I enjoyed working with the wicketkeepers, it was enjoyable for both parties, I’ve got a passion for the game, cricket has been great to me for a long period of time, I want to be involved some way, this is a good opportunity,” he signed-off.