Andrew McDonald appointed as Australian men's Head Coach

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Andrew McDonald appointed as Australian men's Head Coach

Cricket Australia has today appointed Andrew McDonald as Head Coach of the Australian men’s team on a four-year contract.

NB: Andrew McDonald and Cricket Australia’s EGM of High Performance and National Teams Ben Oliver will be available to media beside the outdoor MCG nets at 11.30am today (Wednesday)

McDonald, who has been interim Head Coach since February, joined Australia’s coaching team in 2019 after leading Victoria and the Melbourne Renegades to all three domestic competition titles during the 2018-19 season.

The former Test all-rounder brings a wealth of coaching experience to the position having also held Head Coaching roles in the Indian Premier League and in English county cricket. He had been senior assistant coach with Justin Langer since joining the Australian team.

McDonald last week returned from the historic tour of Pakistan, where he coached the Test side to a series victory, lost the one-day series 2-1 and won the only T20 International.

“The journey so far has been particularly pleasing, and I am honoured to be given this incredible opportunity for what is an exciting period ahead,” McDonald said.

“The success of the World Cup, the Ashes Series and now Pakistan has been testament to the hard work and leadership of Justin, Pat and Aaron along with the players and the support staff.

“My plan is to build on the growth, depth and experience of the squad while working collectively with the group and across the game. There are many challenges in the short-term which I know excites the leadership group, the players and the staff. I’d also like to thank my family for their support.”

Cricket Australia Chief Executive Officer Nick Hockley said: “We interviewed several excellent candidates for this role, which is one of the most important in Australian sport.

“Andrew has already shown he is an outstanding Head Coach and the vision he outlined for the role during the appointment process was both impressive and exciting, making him our clear choice.

“We are proud of the way the team played and the respect shown throughout the tour of Pakistan under the leadership of Andrew, Pat and Aaron and really pleased Andrew is taking on the role permanently.”

Executive General Manager of High Performance and National Teams Ben Oliver said: “Andrew has done an outstanding job as interim Head Coach and has had a positive impact on the squad.

“I am looking forward to supporting Andrew and the team as we plan for an exciting period, which includes tours to Sri Lanka and India, a T20 World Cup and the home summer before an away Ashes series.

“Andrew has been appointed as Head Coach in all formats, although some white ball series may be led by an assistant given the significant workload ahead and the opportunity to continue to develop our coaches and players.”

 

[Titan24]

I would say well deserved. Beating Pakistan in Pakistan is no mean task especially when Pak was coming of few good series of test cricket. Aussies tactics and approach throughout the test series was spot on.

4 years contract might be bit of a stretch but, considering how current Australian lot like his way of handling things and Cummins who has been vocal about the dressing room culture along with praising McDonald is probably going to be the test captain for all these 4 years along with a possibility of LOI captaincy post Finch.

 

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Australia are poised to confirm the rare appointment of a coach with no first-class cricket experience into a full-time role, with Victorian Andre Borovec in line to join the men's national team's staff.

Cricket Victoria chief executive Nick Cummins yesterday announced Borovec was leaving his assistant role with the state men's team to take a similar job with the Aussies under new coach, Andrew McDonald.

It is believed the appointment is imminent and there are plans for Borovec to be the lead coach of the Australia A side in Sri Lanka next month before he joins the Test squad.

Clint McKay, the former Australia fast bowler who played with McDonald at Victoria and under his coaching at Leicestershire, is understood to likely be going to Sri Lanka as bowling coach for the T20 and one-day international legs of the tour.

Michael Di Venuto remains the team's batting coach while Nine newspapers reported earlier this month that former New Zealand captain Dan Vettori could become a more permanent fixture around the team having had a stint with the limited-overs sides in Pakistan earlier this year.

Indian spin coach Sridharan Sreeram is expected to re-join the squad in Sri Lanka having been unable to travel to Pakistan.

The recent departure of Jeff Vaughan to become coach of Tasmania (having previously been an assistant under Justin Langer) as well as McDonald’s own promotion from a senior assistant role has necessitated new faces be brought in.

While McDonald has been appointed coach for all three formats, he has previously conceded he will not be able to coach on every single tour, meaning there could be a variety of tour-by-tour coaching appointments during his tenure.

Borovec, an ex-first-grade wicketkeeper with Geelong in Victorian Premier Cricket, has become a highly-rated mentor with Victoria, the Melbourne Renegades and, more recently, with Australia on limited-overs series during the past 12 months.

The 44-year-old former teacher had a formative influence on McDonald's own coaching style when he played for Geelong during the twilight of his career while Borovec was coach of the club. He also has a long association with white-ball captain Aaron Finch, having also played with him at Geelong.

His appointment is unusual given most coaches who progress to international level typically have playing experience at domestic level.

The likes of American fielding guru Mike Young (a former minor-league baseballer), Trent Woodhill (who has had stints on the Aussie men's team's staff and remains a trusted batting advisor to Steve Smith and David Warner) and Ben Sawyer (currently with the Australian women's team) are notable exceptions among Australian coaches.

But McDonald has previously stressed top-flight playing experience should not be a prerequisite to coaching at the highest level.

"I'm not saying you can't be a good coach with a strong playing background. There are some great coaches out there who have played a lot of Test matches, who have great cricket intellect," he told cricket.com.au last year while he was still an assistant coach with Australia.

"But over time we've been a bit narrow with some of the appointments we've made.

"The knowledge that you gain from playing definitely gives you a head start against the rest of the pack, but to me we're starting to move past that."

https://www.cricket.com.au/news/and...-vettori-andrew-mcdonald-di-venuto/2022-05-21

 

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Cricket Australia appoints men's team assistant coaches

Andre Borovec and Daniel Vettori have been named assistant coaches of the Australian men’s team.

Victorian Borovec and New Zealander Vettori will commence their roles leading into the Test match component of the Qantas Tour of Sri Lanka. Borovec will coach Australia A in Sri Lanka prior to the Test Series alongside Australian women’s team assistant coach Ben Sawyer and Sunny Kaliyar.

Borovec and Vettori come in for Jeff Vaughan, who has returned to Tasmania as Tigers’ Head Coach, and Andrew McDonald following his elevation to the Head Coach role.

Cricket Australia’s Executive General Manager, High Performance and National Teams, Ben Oliver said: “Andre has worked with the squad on select tours for the past year including the successful Test Series against Pakistan with Andrew (McDonald), Michael (Di Venuto) and Jeff.

“He has progressed through the ranks from player to coach at Premier Club level, the Victorian Institute of Sport, Victoria and Melbourne Renegades. With a background in education, he brings a wealth of high-performance knowledge, skills and is a great addition to the coaching group.

“Daniel joined the Pakistan tour for the white ball series and was warmly welcomed. 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.”

Head Coach Andrew McDonald said: “Andre has been fantastic for the group when he has been involved as an extremely skilled and experienced high performance coach. 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. His experience and balanced style are well documented. He is a great fit and will bring an enormous amount of knowledge to the team.”

Borovec said: “I am extremely honoured to be given this opportunity. I have enjoyed the times I have been involved with the team and look forward to working fulltime with the coaching group, players and staff to continually strive for improvement and ultimately success.”

Vettori said: “I was really impressed with what I saw of the group in Pakistan in the way they approached preparation, planning and playing. It’s a very strong and unified group which has the potential to have a very rewarding and hopefully successful period ahead.”

McDonald, Di Venuto, spin coach Sri Sriram and Clint McKay will coach the T20 and ODI squads in Sri Lanka before Borovec and Vettori commence their roles for the Test Series. Vettori will continue as Head Coach of the Birmingham Phoenix in England’s The Hundred.

Additional appointments to the men’s team support staff include Nick Jones as physiotherapist and Mary Spillane as psychologist, who will start ahead of the Sri Lankan tour.

 

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New Zealand legend Daniel Vettori has been confirmed as one of the Australian men's team's new full-time assistant coaches.

The former left-arm orthodox allrounder joins Victorian Andre Borovec, as revealed by cricket.com.au on Saturday, as the two new assistant coaches following the elevation of Andrew McDonald to head coach and the departure of Jeff Vaughan to coach Tasmania.

Vettori has been appointed to the permanent position following a stint with the team during the white-ball leg of the Pakistan tour.

The 43-year-old, who played 113 Tests and 295 ODIs for New Zealand across an illustrious 18-year international career, joins Australia's coaching ranks ahead of a subcontinent-dominated schedule across the next 18 months, which includes tours to Sri Lanka next month and India early next year, along with a 50-over World Cup in India starting in October 2023.

"I was really impressed with what I saw of the group in Pakistan in the way they approached preparation, planning and playing. It’s a very strong and unified group which has the potential to have a very rewarding and hopefully successful period ahead," Vettori said.

Borovec and Vettori will commence their roles with the national side leading into the two-Test series of the Qantas Tour of Sri Lanka.

Borovec will coach Australia A in Sri Lanka prior to the Test Series alongside Australian women’s team assistant coach Ben Sawyer and Sunny Kaliyar.

Former Test and Victoria seamer Clint McKay will join the coaching staff for the T20 and ODI component of the tour, as previously revealed by cricket.com.au, along with McDonald, batting coach Michael Di Venuto and spin coach Sri Sriram before Borovec and Vettori commence their roles for the Test series.

Borovec's appointment as a full-time assistant coach is rare given most coaches who progress to international level generally have playing experience at least at domestic level.

The 44-year-old former teacher and ex-first-grade wicketkeeper with Geelong in Victorian Premier Cricket, has become a highly-rated mentor with Victoria, the Melbourne Renegades and, more recently, with Australia on limited-overs series during the past 12 months.

He had a formative influence on McDonald's own coaching style when he played for Geelong during the twilight of his career while Borovec was coach of the club. He also has a long association with white-ball captain Aaron Finch, having also played with him at Geelong.

"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. His experience and balanced style are well documented. He is a great fit and will bring an enormous amount of knowledge to the team."

Borovec, who was part of Australia's coaching staff during the 1-0 Test series victory in Pakistan under then interim head coach McDonald, said he was extremely honoured to be given the full-time opportunity.

"I have enjoyed the times I have been involved with the team and look forward to working full time with the coaching group, players and staff to continually strive for improvement and ultimately success," he said.

Additional appointments to the men’s team support staff include Nick Jones as physiotherapist and Mary Spillane as psychologist, who will start ahead of the Sri Lankan tour.

Qantas Tour of Sri Lanka, 2022

T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner, Matthew Wade

June 7: First T20, Colombo

June 8: Second T20, Colombo

June 11: Third T20, Kandy

ODI squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner

June 14: First ODI, Kandy

June 16: Second ODI, Kandy

June 19: Third ODI, Colombo

June 21: Fourth ODI, Colombo

June 24: Fifth ODI, Colombo

Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner

June 29 - July 3: First Test, Galle

July 8-12: Second Test, Galle

Australia A fixtures

Squad: Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Pete Handscomb, Aaron Hardie, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Henry Hunt, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Nic Maddinson, Todd Murphy, Josh Philippe, Matt Renshaw, Jhye Richardson, Tanveer Sangha, Mark Steketee

June 8: First one-day game v Sri Lanka A, Colombo

June 10: Second one-day game v Sri Lanka A, Colombo

June 14-17: first-class tour match v Sri Lanka A, Hambantota

June 21-24: first-class tour match v Sri Lanka A, Hambantota



https://www.cricket.com.au/news/and...es-full-time-appointment-sri-lanka/2022-05-24

 

[Justcrazy]

I am not convinced about this choice , head coach role is too big for him.

 

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Australia's coaches have turned an eye to next year's tour of India as they prepare for the possibility of pulling off a rare hat-trick on the sub-continent.

Andrew McDonald's men were set to return to training on Monday after two days off, as they begin to ramp up preparations for Friday's second Test against Sri Lanka.

A win or draw in Galle will secure a second straight series win in Asia, after breaking an 11-year drought with victory in Pakistan earlier this year.

But they are also aware a bigger challenge awaits next February.

Australia have not won in India since 2004, while victory there would mark just the third time in the team's history they have won three straight series in Asia.

None of those streaks have come inside the space of 12 months.

There will also be greater implications, with the series the last played before the World Test Championship final and Australia well clear in first with India third.

It's why Australia are more than happy with their busy Asian schedule this year, offering up a greater chance to plan for how to best combat the conditions.

Pakistan served up flatter wickets than those traditionally expected in Asia, with Rawalpindi a batter's paradise and Karachi and Lahore only breaking up later.

Galle meanwhile was a raging turner for the first Test against Sri Lanka, with some Australians describing it as the toughest they have batted on.

In India, Australia expect a mixture of the two scenarios and anything in between during the four-Test series.

"In a lot of ways it's been nice to have a sub-continent tour of Pakistan, then here (in Sri Lanka) and build towards India," spin coach Daniel Vettori said.

"Conditions will be very different. We will get a lot of variation from venue to venue.

"You could get anything in between (the pitches in Pakistan and Sri Lanka).

"If you play at Mohali it is going to be flat, if you play at Wankhede (in Mumbai) it could turn square like here.

"You can't just have one plan."

Australia's batters have made a point to meet the tempo of the match on both recent tours, playing the long game in Pakistan before upping the scoring rate in Galle.

But regardless of the tempo, they want to use their crease and be busy enough to unsettle the spinners.

A new-found willingness to sweep more is also key.

Some 45.7 per cent of Australia's boundaries in the first Test were either swept or reverse-swept, compared to 20.8 per cent in their 3-0 loss in Sri Lanka in 2016.

"In a lot of ways sweeps can be blocks over here," Vettori said.

"There have been plans for individuals to use whatever they feel comfortable with, and to be as proactive and brave as they could with it.

"The guys who do sweep very well tried to emphasise that as much as possible. Alex Carey, I think his first 12 scoring shots were sweeps."

https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa...Y29tOmVuOlVT&usg=AOvVaw2HWJ5ygtacE1ThmE4X1R6P

 

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Vettori in consultation with Lyon - earning his keep as Australia struggle to dismiss SL in 2nd Test

 

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Long-time Australian men’s assistant coach Sridharan Sriram will depart the squad to focus on his coaching career in India.

Chennai-based Sriram has been with the squad for six years as predominately a spin coach while also playing a key role in the batting, fielding and strategy for the side across multiple campaigns.

He has chosen to move his focus to his coaching career with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and other roles while spending more time with his rising cricketer son Rishab and wife Pavi.

The former Indian allrounder has been most closely linked to the rise of Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar while also forming close bonds with Glenn Maxwell, Marnus Labuschagne and Mitchell Swepson.

With his tutelage Zampa is ranked the fifth best bowler in T20 cricket and Agar 11, having been in the top ten in the past. He has also nurtured Maxwell’s spin bowling on the journey.

“After being on the road for six years it’s with a heavy heart I have decided to move on from my current role as an assistant coach of the Australian men’s team,” he said.

“I feel this is an opportune moment keeping in mind the team, giving them enough time to prepare for two World Cups and the World Test Championship.

“It has been a great experience for me working across formats, World Cups and Ashes and I have come out incredibly richer in knowledge.

“I am extremely grateful to Cricket Australia for all their support in the years that I have been involved with them.

“I would like to thank my head coaches Darren Lehmann, Justin Langer and Andrew McDonald and my captains Steve Smith, Tim Paine, Aaron Finch and Pat Cummins who all believed in me.

“Thanks also to Ben Oliver, Brian McFadyen, all the players and staff for welcoming me with open arms and making me feel a part of the group.

“Greg Chappell, Troy Cooley, Pat Howard and Marcus Stoinis were also instrumental in getting me involved. I wish the team and the coaches the very best for the future.”

Adam Zampa said: “I love working with Sri, he’s someone I have a lot of respect for and his work ethic and knowledge of the game have been invaluable to my career in recent years.”