Melbourne: Australia coach Justin Langer said that the youngsters can learn so much from the inclusion of the former legends in the coaching staff.
"One of the things we've tried to do is bring some of the legends back around the team. Our young guys and all our players can learn so much (from them), they're great mentors, cricket.com.au quoted Langer as saying.
Mike Hussey will re-join the coaching staff of the Australian men's team this week. He was part of Australia's coaching staff for their T20 campaign at the start of the home summer and will head to South Africa this week for the T20 leg of their six-match white-ball campaign against the Proteas.
Former allrounder Andrew Symonds has been sounded out for a similar mentoring role later this year. Former World Cup-winning captain Ricky Ponting has enjoyed several stints with the national side in recent years, most recently at the 50-over World Cup in 2019, while former skipper Steve Waugh joined Langer's staff for the 2019 Ashes in the UK.
"We had 'Punter' (Ponting), we had Steve Waugh for the Ashes, we're looking at getting Andrew Symonds to come to New Zealand with us ... and Mike Hussey is coming to South Africa. It's a really good initiative," Langer said.
"I do love coaching. The difficult thing is, do I want to do it on a full-time basis and be back on the road for 10 months of the year with a young family? That's not something I'm interested in at the moment," he added.
Australia will depart for South Africa on Thursday for a three-match T20 series and three-game ODI campaign, with the tour starting in Johannesburg on February 21.
Australia T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.
Australia ODI squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey (vc), Pat Cummins (vc), Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.
