MCDONALD NEW OZ COACH ACROSS FORMATS

MELBOURNE: Andrew McDonald has been appointed head coach of Australia in all three formats for the next four years after overseeing their Test series victory in Pakistan in a caretaker role.

McDonald had served as an assistant under Justin Langer since 2019 and took the reins in Pakistan after Langer declined the offer of a short-term contract extension and resigned.

The 40-year-old former Test all-rounder had been widely expected to take the head coach role on a permanent basis. “We interviewed several excellent candidates for this role, which is one of the most important in Australian sport,” Cricket Australia (CA) boss Nick Hockley said.

“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.”

McDonald will lead Australia through a busy year which includes Test tours of Sri Lanka and India, and the T20 side’s World Cup defence on home soil.

“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.

McDonald, who expressed concerns in February about the workload of coaching in all formats, will be given the option of skipping certain white ball series to rest.

“The great challenge for coaches and players is to manage your workload across the four years, being my term at the moment,” he told reporters at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday. “But I’d like to think that I’ve got coaching staff around that can step up. We can elevate certain coaches at different times to take on different tours and different challenges and whilst we’re doing that it’s growing the depth of our coaching staff.”*