New Zealand legend's shock move to Aussie cricket coaching staff

Current Australia coach McDonald has Australia has welcomed New Zealand spin great Daniel Vettori to his staff as an assistant cricket coach.

Vettori made his Test debut for New Zealand at the age of 18 and went on to play 113 Test matches in a glittering career.

'HOPE HE'S OK': Cricket world stunned by scary on-field incident

SAD REVEAL: Family breakdown before Andrew Symonds tragedy

The off-spinner took 362 wickets in Test matches and 305 in ODIs for his nation.

And now, Vettori and Victorian Andre Borovec have been confirmed as part of Australia's new-look coaching panel and will begin their roles next month in Sri Lanka.

Their recruitment follows Justin Langer's exit at the end of the summer, with McDonald moving from assistant to take charge of the men's team.

Fellow assistant Jeff Vaughan has also left the group, taking up the top job in Tasmania after a brief stint with the national side.

The other remaining assistant, Michael Divenuto, will stay on as a batting coach.

High-performance manager Ben Oliver praised Vettori's experience with the ball and said his contribution to the team will be immense.

"Daniel joined the Pakistan tour for the white-ball series and was warmly welcomed," Oliver said.

"His international experience in all forms of the game as a player and coach is almost unrivalled and his strategic insights, coaching approach and collaborative style will be invaluable for Andrew and the team."

Australia coaching team overhaul

Borovec will also take charge of the Australia A team in Sri Lanka before the Test series.

He was a player and coach in Victorian Premier Cricket, having since worked in the BBL alongside McDonald at the Melbourne Renegades.

"Andre has been fantastic for the group when he has been involved as an extremely skilled and experienced high-performance coach," McDonald said.

"He is a great fit culturally and brings the skills to complement our high-performance specialists.

"I have worked with Daniel previously and could not speak more highly of his approach, work ethic and rapport he brings."

Cricket Australia also confirmed Nick Jones would join the group as the new physiotherapist and Mary Spillane as psychologist ahead of the Sri Lanka tour.

with AAP

Click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.