Haddin to replace Blewett as Australia's fielding coach

Photo: AFP New Delhi: Brad Haddin has been called up to replace Greg Blewett as the fielding coach of Australia after the latter resigned from the position to take up a role in his native South Australia. Haddin has been appointed till the end of 2019 and will take up the new position from the Bangladesh tour. "I am thrilled to get the opportunity to work with this young group of players," Haddin said in a statement. "I grew up in an era of players like Andrew Symonds and Ricky Ponting who gave Australian cricket a real identity in the standards of world-class fielding. They were the type of players who took it personally if the team wasn't fielding well and that created a level for the rest of the group to aspire to." The former wicket-keeper batsman has represented Australia in 66 Tests and 126 ODIs. He was associated with the Australian A team and also assisted the junior teams of New South Wales. Interestingly, both Haddin and Blewett are with the Australian team in their training camp before the Bangladesh tour. Blewett is expected to leave at the end of the camp for Haddin to take over. Blewett, who had been the national fielding coach since late 2014, is returning to Adelaide to be South Australia's under-19 coach. The 45-year-old Blewett will also be an assistant coach with the state's Redbacks limited-overs squad and with the Adelaide Strikers, the Twenty20 franchise, South Australian cricket official announced Thursday.