HE was part of a Women's Big Bash League triumph as an assistant last year, but now Jono Dean has his sights set on success as a head coach in another national competition.
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Since steeping back from his playing career - which included winning a Big Bash League crown with the Adelaide Strikers - Dean has worked on developing his skills as a coach.
Last year Dean took the opportunity to be an assistant to Trevor Griffin at the Sydney Thunder, the team they guided going on to win the Women's Big Bash League crown.
It was a chance for Dean to work with emerging talents such as Orange's Phoebe Litchfield, but also international talents like Australia's Rachael Haynes and English skipper Heather Knight.
"Seeing how the top end of the female game go about their cricket, their preparation and everything as professional athletes it's been an awesome experience," Bathurst native Dean said.
Now the WBBL is over, Dean's focus is one another new job. He has taken over from David Drew as the head coach of the ACT Meteors side which plays in the Women's National Cricket League.
Dean is not new to the Meteors set up - he previously worked as a batting coach - and he has a good relationship with ACT captain Angela Reakes.
Reakes is full of praise for Dean.
"Jono is almost like a chameleon. He can play to a situation really well, he's really good at creating relationships with players, but also at knowing when he needs to be that authoritative person," she said.
"We have a few more challenging conversations that we might not have had before - but always in the interest of the team. I really respect his honesty, and I know that he respects mine. We're really lucky that we have the relationship that we have."
Since entering the WNCL in season 2009-10, the Meteors have made the semi-finals six times. Dean is hoping to build on that with a squad that includes Reakes, talented young quick Maitlan Brown and handy all-rounder Carly Leeson.
The Meteors will begin their campaign on January 27 with a match against Tasmania in Adelaide.