"Wouldn't ever consider doing that" - Ricky Ponting turns down England's white-ball coaching role
Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has distanced himself from England's white-ball coaching role, saying it's difficult to take up a time-consuming international job at this stage of his life. The Tasmanian added that he had other commitments like commentating to manage and wants to balance them with family time.
With Matthew Mott stepping down as the white-ball coach, the England management are hunting for his successor. While the 49-year-old Aussie doesn't have international coaching experience, he is vastly accomplished when it comes to franchise cricket, doing it for the Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, and Washington Freedom.
When recently asked by Sanjana Ganesan whether he would consider becoming England's white-ball coach, Ponting refused with absolute clarity of thought. Speaking on an episode of The ICC Review podcast, he said:
"No, I wouldn't ever consider doing that actually. I'm on record saying that international jobs for me right now are not really where my life is at as there's just so much more time taken up with an international job. I've got other commitments as well, with my TV work and things that I do and also trying to balance that out with having a decent amount of home time, which I haven't had much of the last couple of years anyway."
After winning their second T20 World Cup in 2022, England's fortunes have gone downhill. The Englishmen suffered a group-stage exit in the 2023 World Cup and a semi-final exit in the T20 World Cup 2024.
"Australia's got some white-ball stuff coming up over there which I'll go and commentate" - Ricky Ponting
In the same interview, Ponting asserted that he currently wants to concentrate on franchise coaching and commentating jobs, saying:
"Coaching other international teams is one thing, coaching England for an Australian is probably something slightly different, but right now there's sort of enough on my plate as I've got a bit more coming up in the next couple of months in the UK. Australia's got some white-ball stuff coming up over there which I'll go and commentate, so no, right now if my name was on the list they can actually take it off."
England's next white-ball assignment is against Australia in September.