Borovec, 45, is highly regarded within the Australian team having served a long coaching apprenticeship without playing first-class cricket. He began his coaching career in Victorian grade cricket with Geelong, a club he played 330 matches for over 23 years as a wicketkeeper-batter. He coached McDonald at the club at the back end of his playing career.
Borovec then joined McDonald’s coaching staff at Melbourne Renegades and Victoria where he was part of the 2018-19 BBL triumph having been heavily involved in their strategy.
His first secondment with Australia as an assistant coach came in 2021 during the white-ball tours of the Caribbean and Bangladesh. He also toured with Australia on the 2022 tour of Pakistan. He was then added to Australia’s coaching staff as a full-time assistant when McDonald took the head coaching role in May 2022.
Since then, Borovec has combined his assistant duties with the Australia team while taking charge of the Australia A program. He coached Australia A on the tour of Sri Lanka in June 2022 and then oversaw the Prime Minister’s XI team for the tour game against West Indies in November last year. He also coached Australia A for the tour of New Zealand in April immediately after Australia’s Test tour of India.
The timing of the India T20I series does allow for a state coach to fill in due to Sheffield Shield, Marsh Cup and BBL commitments.