Former Test wicketkeeper Steve Rixon will stand in for head coach Mickey Arthur for the initial part of Australia's tour of the UAE.

Rixon will take over Arthur's role for the one-off 50-over game against Afghanistan and the three ODIs with Pakistan, before Arthur returns for the Twenty20 portion of the tour.

With Rixon in charge, Arthur will use his time away to prepare for the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka in September.

"Part of the broader scope of the new Australian team head coach role since the Australian Team Performance Review (ATPR) was conducted was to have a wider view over the team's plans and how we prepare and we have a very important T20 tournament coming up," Arthur said.

"I'll spend the time away from the team to really hone our T20 plans and study the opposition ahead of the ICC World Twenty20.

"We have great experience and harmony within our support staff group now and I know that Steve will do a terrific job in partnership with (assistant coaches) Justin Langer and Ali de Winter while I'm away."

Rixon is looking forward to filling in for Arthur, but knows his time in charge will be short-lived.

"Of course you look forward to opportunities like this; it's not every day you get to coach the Australian cricket team and I'm looking forward to that extra responsibility and working with Michael Clarke," Rixon said.

"In saying that, my job will be to simply carry on with all the good work and planning that has been done in recent times and hopefully hand back over to Mickey after four good wins."