Cricket Australia must find a way to bring Ricky Ponting into coaching system

Australian cricket needs Ricky Ponting more than he needs it, so if compromises must be made make them, says Robert Craddock.

Asking Ricky Ponting whether he is available to coach Australia is not going far enough.

A black and white, “yes or no’’ discussion is not good enough. It’s time for Australia to be elastic and unconventional.

Instead of asking Ponting to slot into the system, the system may need to work around Ponting.

National cricket coaching systems are outdated.

Most decent coaches, like Ponting, work in the Indian Premier League, where the money is better and the time away is shorter.

Ponting needs to be in the Australian system. As Justin Langer once told me “you can say what you like about coaches but the facts are Ponting is the best cricket coach in world.’’

The players hang off his every word to the point where Nathan Lyon once quipped “you can be talking AFL and Alex Carey actually was part of the GSW Giants yet if Punter has an opinion on football you still tend to listen to him first.’’

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But under the current system the likes of Ponting will always be near impossible to sign because he does not have the time to commit to a full time coaching gig, the money is not good enough and, we suspect, being the loyal man he is, he would still be furious at the way Cricket Australia treated his great mate Justin Langer.

For that reason alone he is unlikely to step in Langer’s shoes.

Australia needs Ponting more than he needs them.

It is time for Australia to realise that it will never attract Ponting to work fulltime in the current system but Ponting in a bite sized version is better than no Ricky at all.

Andrew McDonald seems to be doing a solid job with the national side following Langer’s departure and will probably get the full-time gig.

But Ponting has occasionally be used as a consultant attached to the team for specified periods.

He doesn’t have to be fulltime to make an impact. It’s time to get him involved.

CRICKET AUSTRALIA SOUNDS OUT LEGEND ABOUT AUSSIE COACHING POST

The players might want Andrew McDonald as their new coach, but Cricket Australia has hired an international recruitment firm to approach ex-greats, including even Justin Langer’s close friend, Ricky Ponting.

Ponting was enraged by the way Cricket Australia treated Langer but as the most sought-after coaching mind in world cricket, administrators are leaving no stone unturned in their hunt for a new national head coach.

Former England coach Trevor Bayliss, current Australian assistant Michael Di Venuto and another of Langer’s former teammates, Jason Gillespie are also on the shortlist — although it’s understood current interim coach McDonald remains the favourite.

Simon Katich is another high profile former star who is likely to be approached and given Mickey Arthur is the only ever overseas coach of Australia, it’s unlikely administrators will look too far abroad.

Jonathan Harris, a managing partner at SRI has been reaching out to former stars and other candidates via text.

Ricky Ponting chats to former Australian coach Justin Langer.

Ponting would be the No.1 target for CA because of his unrivalled pedigree as a player and coach, but he earns multiples of what the Australian coaching salary would be with his job in the IPL and television commentary — while also getting to spend extended periods with his family.

It’s understood CA is not keen on splitting the role across the formats, and wants an overarching head coach to replace Langer.

This approach would also work against being able to tempt a candidate like Ponting.

Although the animosity between Ponting and other ex-greats who are close friends of Langer would be another obvious obstacle.

Cricket Australia has engaged global executive search and consulting firm SRI and as well as sounding out ex-greats has thrown open the head coaching position to the states, with an email sent out asking the state associations for names they would like to put forward.

Queensland head coach Wade Seccombe and Western Australia’s Adam Voges would shape as the leading prospects from the domestic system.

There is some cynicism around the game about CA running these processes through recruitment agencies.

When CA conducted a recent search for a new board member, an American recruiter ran the process and told interviewees she had no idea about cricket.

The England Cricket Board could have had Gary Kirsten as its last head coach a couple of years ago, but Chris Silverwood won the position because he interviewed better and wowed administrators with power point presentations.

Ricky Ponting has been a huge success as a coach in the Indian Premier League.

The move by CA chief executive Nick Hockley to contact states about the Australian head coaching position was mocked by some, who felt the organisation should have known who it wanted to target.

But Hockley feels he would have also been criticised by some quarters if he hadn’t reached out, and is making no apologies in his determination to improve relationships, communication and engagement between head office and the states.

However, the engagement of the recruitment firm shouldn’t be seen necessarily as a hindrance to current interim coach McDonald’s chances of taking over the post permanently.

Hockley was an interim chief executive for CA, and even after a global headhunting mission he was still appointed CEO, and there’s an expectation McDonald will still take over from Langer.

Interestingly, McDonald has expressed a belief that splitting the responsibilities of the head coach across formats could stop national coaches from burning out so quickly.

But News Corp understands Cricket Australia powerbrokers have determined their favoured model is to stick with an overarching head coach – but with an understanding that person would be subbed out and rested at various stages.

The fear is that if coaching responsibilities were to be formally split along formats, there could be tensions that arise in the resting and management of multi-format players from certain tours.

The feeling is if there is one boss in charge of the entire men’s coaching program, there will be clear and consistent frameworks in place leading into big tournaments like World Cups – with an in-built flexibility for the head coach to hand over to assistants for lower profile white ball series in between.

An announcement on the new head coach is expected after the completion of the Pakistan tour early next month.