Andrew McDonald becomes Australia's full-time head coach

Onecricket

The former Australian allrounder Andrew McDonald has been appointed as the full-time head coach-cum-selector of the Australia men's team for the next four years. 


McDonald, who has been working as the senior assistant and bowling mentor of the team since 2019, played an additional role as the interim coach during the team's Pakistan tour following the resignation of the ex-coach Justin Langer. Although Australia lost the ODI series by 2-1, their historic victory in the Test series earned McDonald high praises from the Aussie skipper Pat Cummins. 


The Victoria-born has coached Victoria and Melbourne Renegades to four Australian domestic titles, including victorious campaigns in the Sheffield Shield, Marsh Cup and BBL in the same season in 2018-19. He also has the experience of coaching the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL. 


In his reaction, McDonald said that it has been an incredible journey for him as a crucial part of the team management so far, and he is humbled for being given the role of the head coach. 


The 40-year-old acknowledged the efforts of the former coach Justin Langer, the Test captain Pat Cummins, the Limited-overs captain Aaron Finch and the entire team for Australia's astounding success across formats in recent times. He further clarified his objectives of building on the team's growth, depth, and experience working collectively with the players.    


"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 a testament to the hard work and leadership of Justin, Pat, Aaron, and the players and the support staff. 


My plan is to build on the squad's growth, depth, and experience while working collectively with the group and across the game", the ex-Aussie allrounder added. 


On the other hand, Cricket Australia's general manager of high-performance, Mr Ben Oliver, said that they felt McDonald is the best candidate for the head coach's role as the latter has established a great rapport with all the players and has had a fair amount of success in his coaching career. 


"Andrew was the standout candidate in a high-quality field of coaches," Oliver said. "And we believe he's the best person to help continue the team's growth over the coming years," he added. 


Apart from being the coach, McDonald will also serve a selector's role and is set to be a part of the three-member panel alongside George Bailey and Tony Dodemaide.




Discover more

Top Stories
news

IPL 2022 | RCB rope in Ashmead Nedd as net bowler on Rutherford's recommendation

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) has roped in young Guyanese spinner Ashmead Nedd as a net bowler for IPL 2022. He becomes the third player after Afghanistan's Izharulhaq Naveed and India's Kulwant Khejroliya to join RCB's roster to help the team during practice sessions. Nedd is expected to leave for India by April 12. Nedd's fellow countryman, Sherfane Rutherford, part of the RCB squad, has played a key role in the former's appointment. It will be a great learning curve for the left-arm spinner, who featured in the West Indies squad at the 2018 U-19 World Cup. He was an integral part of the Caribbean side at the 2020 edition of the U-19 World Cup as well. Though West Indies finished fifth in that tournament, Nedd emerged as the highest wicket-taker for his team. He picked up 11 wickets with an impressive economy of 3.54. Nedd has also made his debut in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), snapping three wickets from seven matches. Though he has not much to show on the wickets column, his miserly bowling gets well-reflected through his economy rate of 5.64 in the CPL. The young spin sensation is excited to bowl at veterans of the game in Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell. He expects to learn from this new venture, which would allow him to grow as a player. Nedd quipped while speaking to News Room Sport, "Going there as a spinner could really help me with my game. I want to ask simple stuff about their routine as a professional and how I can better my game as a youngster moving forward." Ahead of their game against CSK on Tuesday, RCB notched up three wins in the five matches they played.