Cricket Australia interim coach Andrew McDonald says David Beakley sacking has been unsettling

One of interim coach Andrew McDonald’s greatest challenges in his first tour in charge will be managing Australia’s prized quicks — and he concedes sacking the team physio has been “unsettling”.

Andrew McDonald has conceded the shock sacking of popular physio David Beakley has been “unsettling” for his team in the build-up to Australia’s crucial series against Pakistan.

Australian team performance boss Ben Oliver is under the microscope for the brutal axing, not least of all because it blindsided players and coaches three days before they were due to depart for a heavy-duty tour, where the physical strain on fast bowlers will be intense.

McDonald said Australia had its “work cut out” adjusting to losing someone who knew the bowlers so intimately and managing the quicks through three Tests in Pakistan which are back-to-back-to-back.

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Players are disappointed by the lack of explanation Oliver has provided for why a respected and integral high performance figure was moved on when his professional work keeping the bowlers on the park was highly valued by the players he was treating and the coach.

After player influence was paramount in unseating coach Justin Langer, the perception from some in the camp around Beakley’s departure is that getting rid of a staffer so close with the players is a return shot across the bows from CA that players don’t get it all their own way.

Cricket Australia has strongly denied there is anything more to Beakley’s exit than a decision to move in a different direction, but rightly or wrongly, it’s been interpreted by some as a ‘square-up’ of sorts.

Regardless of what CA’s motivations might have been for moving on Beakley, there are at least questions to be asked about why he was shown the door at the 11th hour, three days before the team departed for Pakistan.

David Beakley was highly respected by the team and players are angry with the move. Picture: Getty Images.

Interim coach McDonald admits the shock news has had an impact on the preparations of the team, and emphasised that the role of Beakley from a high performance point of view should not be underestimated.

“I think every figure we’ve lost so far since Hobart has been unsettling,” McDonald told SEN’s Whateley.

“Every one of them played an important role and David Beakley, no bigger than his role in terms of managing the fast bowlers, looking after their bodies, and he had a sensational record in doing that over the journey.

“To lose 10-plus years of experience in that area is definitely a little bit unsettling, but like anything, you’ve got to move forward.

“Brendan Wilson (Beakley’s interim replacement) is on board here getting up to speed and getting to understand the bowlers, how they recover, how they go about their work.

“We’ve really quickly got to make sure the team is operating around the fast bowlers as efficiently as we can and we’ve got some big decisions with the short turnarounds (between Tests) to make.

“We’ve got our work cut out and all that information is pivotal. We have an able replacement in Brendan and we are looking forward to the challenges that present.”

Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley and Australian Cricketers Association boss Todd Greenberg are both in Pakistan together as a display of unity between head office and the players on the Test team’s first venture to the troubled region in nearly 25 years.

However, there is still lingering angst around the Langer saga which is made more complicated by the fact Oliver – who was close with Langer – is the team performance boss.

Australian player Nathan Lyon described Beakley’s departure as “disappointing” but that players had moved on.

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There is more tension in the ranks of the Australian cricket team, with players angered by the shock axing of their popular and highly respected physio on the eve of the tour of Pakistan.

The departure of David Beakley is yet another change to the Australian team hierarchy, but what sets this one apart is the players didn’t want him to leave.

Players and team staff were blindsided by a Wednesday email from team performance boss Ben Oliver announcing Beakley was being moved on, just three days before he was due to fly with the Australians to Pakistan on Saturday for the historic tour.

After player power was blamed for the demise of coach Justin Langer, sources around the team are now privately querying whether the brutal and mysterious exit of Beakley – so tight with the players and fast bowlers in particular – might in some way resemble a thinly veiled statement back, that players don’t run the show.

News Corp understands that some in the set-up may have even questioned Oliver whether this is the case.

CA has strongly denied Beakley’s departure is anything more than a change in direction.

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Australian Team Physiotherapist David Beakley has been sacked on the eve of the team’s tour of Pakistan. Picture: Getty Images.

Numerous sources have confirmed players are stunned and extremely disappointed at Beakley’s sudden sacking, and bewildered at the lack of explanation they feel they’ve received from Oliver as to why the change has been made.

Retired Australian Test fast bowler James Pattinson has been out of the team set-up for some time and isn’t aware of the circumstances surrounding Beakley’s departure but admits he was shocked that a physio so well-respected by his primary patients – the bowlers – would be let go.

“He is a great guy and a good physio. It’s surprising to see him get moved on,” Pattinson told News Corp.

“I know a lot of the fast bowlers were pretty close with him and that’s usually what you want. Fast bowlers spend the most time in the physio room. I was pretty shocked by it but I don’t really know anything else apart from that.”

Oliver informed players and staff in an email on Wednesday – the day Beakley was due to join camp in Melbourne – that a sudden change was taking part to the touring party for Pakistan, with Tasmanian physio Brendan Wilson a last-minute call-up for Beakley who was departing.

“This message is to advise that David Beakley will be finishing up in his role as Physiotherapist with the Australian men’s team this week,” wrote Oliver in an email sent to high performance and national team staff and CA contracted players on Wednesday, and seen by News Corp.

“Following assessment of the team’s needs, and review of the requirements to support these needs, it has been determined that change in the role of Physiotherapist is in the best interests of the team and Australian cricket moving forward.”

It’s highly unusual for a physiotherapist to be moved on from their role unless they lose the key support of coaches or the players they treat. Or there had been a trend of injuries.

But that’s not the case with Australia, whose fast bowlers have generally been kept in good health over recent years, and Beakley – in the role since 2015 – has continued to share a close relationship with quicks and also caretaker coach, Andrew McDonald.

The news came just three days before Beakley was due to board a plane for Pakistan. Picture: Getty Images.

There is lingering tension between players and Oliver, who was close with Langer, with their previous working relationship in Western Australia part of the foundation for his appointment as CA’s head of team performance.

Oliver said in a statement to News Corp that a decision was made to move in a new direction.

“David is an experienced and accomplished practitioner who will no doubt continue to have an impact in High Performance sport,” said Oliver.

“It has been determined however that change in the role of Physiotherapist is in the best interests of Australian cricket at this time and moving forward.

“We thank David for his service and wish him and his family the very best for the future.”

Pakistan is a heavy duty Test tour where caring for the aches and pains of the bowlers in hot, oppressive conditions – so soon after a long Ashes summer – will be paramount.

Pattinson, who suffered regular injuries throughout his career said Beakley was one of the best physios he has dealt with in cricket.

“It was obviously a bit of a shock. It’s been a shock a lot of the things that has happened lately,” he said.

“I’m out of the loop a bit now, so I’m not sure what’s happened, but all the experiences I’ve had with him have been fantastic. He’s been up there with one of the best physios I’ve had.”