Welcome return is our wish

Renegades want McDonald

JUSTIN Langer’s right-hand man is being targeted by Cricket Victoria amid grumblings of disharmony in the Australian dressing room.

Melbourne Renegades have made an audacious play to win back Andrew McDonald, their Big Bash League-winning coach, in a bombshell move that would shape as a big blow for Langer.

McDonald, 39, has grown increasingly popular among players in the Australian camp for his calm and approachable style and tactical prowess.

The former Test all-rounder has been viewed as the heir apparent to Langer ever since Langer poached him in 2019, when he served as Victoria’s Sheffield Shield coach and Renegades coach.

Cricket Australia was so desperate to secure McDonald that it broke with convention and allowed him to retain coaching positions at IPL franchise Rajastahan Royals and The Hundred franchise Birmingham Phoenix in addition to his role assisting Langer.

McDonald is close mates Aaron Finch, who captains the Renegades, and they will fly to New Zealand together on

Monday as coach and captain of Australia’s Twenty20 squad, as McDonald considers his future. While Renegades’ interest in their much-loved former coach is more optimistic than realistic, it points to the widespread belief that all is not well in the Australian camp.

Sources in the red camp confirmed that a phone call to McDonald was certain to be made in the wake of coach Michael Klinger taking a job a Cricket NSW, which was revealed on Tuesday, after walking away from the Renegades with a season remaining on his Big Bash contract.

Should McDonald decline the Renegades’ advances then Cameron White’s potential return to Victorian cricket could open up.

Victoria’s longest-serving captain has been such a revelation as an assistant at Adelaide that Strikers coach Jason Gillespie has a job at South Australia’s Cricket Association lined up for him.

But with White’s family in Melbourne a return home would be a dream result for the clever tactician who worked closely with Test squad members Alex Carey and Travis Head last month, who both captained Adelaide.