Hobart Hurricanes head of strategy Ricky Ponting has appointed Jeff Vaughan as the Big Bash League franchise's new head coach having failed to land primary target Justin Langer.
Vaughan, the Tasmanian Tigers coach, will combine both roles after it was announced on Friday he'd signed a three-year deal to lead the Hurricanes as the replacement for Adam Griffith, who left the role after five seasons in January.
Despite labelling Vaughan's appointment as "exceptional", Ponting also conceded attempts to lure former Test coach Langer to take on the role had ultimately not come to fruition.
"I said a couple of months ago, when I came down, I'd spoken more to Justin about the head coach's role than I had to any of the other candidates and I'm on record saying that, and I've got no issue saying that again," Ponting told reporters.
"We talked long and hard and we got a fair way down the track about him being the head coach here but the further we went, he's got some other things that he wants to do in his life and he's got some other exciting things that probably happening for him through the course of the summer.
"He's decided to go along that path rather than jump straight back into the coaching ranks."
With Langer out of the picture, Ponting said Vaughan had quickly emerged as a stand-out candidate in his first major task since moving into his head of strategy role with the BBL franchise.
"Continuity was a big factor in appointing Jeff as the head coach of the Hurricanes," Ponting said
"Obviously as the head coach of the Tasmanian Tigers, I felt that Hobart and Tasmania is well suited to being a one-coach town if you like and one-coach state.
"Having spoken to a lot of people in Tasmanian cricket, a lot of people in Australian cricket, everyone I spoke to about Jeff spoke about him with with glowing reports.
"(He's a ) highly skilled coach, very experienced coach now having worked with Tasmania, the Hurricanes, and with Australia in the Australian set-up over the last four-or-five years.
"His people management skills are second-to-none and, literally, there wasn't a word bad word spoken about him.
"As far as I'm concerned, we've made an exceptional appointment here."
Vaughan will have Darren Berry and James Hopes as his assistants at the Hurricanes, who are chasing their first title in the BBL.
The coaching panel and Ponting will now begin planning Hobart's approach to the inaugural BBL overseas player draft on August 28, with the Hurricanes receiving the eighth and last first round pick after Thursday's draft lottery.
