Why Andrew McDonald’s appointment as Australia assistant is so important
One of the most respected minds in Australian cricket has been appointed assistant to national coach Justin Langer in what could prove to be a masterstroke for the game.
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Updating: Justin Langer has short-circuited the coaching brain drain afflicting Australian cricket by swooping on one of the country’s brightest minds.
Andrew McDonald has been appointed as Langer’s full-time Australian assistant coach, despite the fact he’s committed to coaching in both the Indian Premier League and England’s inaugural The Hundred next year.
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It’s an illustration of how difficult it is for Cricket Australia to find full-time coaches willing to go on the road 12 months a year, with so much competition from high-paying Twenty20 leagues.
But also shows what a massive coup it is for Australian cricket.
Cricket Australia announced the appoinment on Wednesday night.
The fact McDonald is willing to take the plunge as Langer’s international assistant – albeit with the potential for a couple of free leave passes from CA next year – goes against the recent haemorrhaging of the best coaching talent from the Australian system.
Already CA had missed out on Brad Haddin and Adam Griffith as lieutenants to Langer, while several other star candidates such as Ricky Ponting, Mike Hussey, Simon Katich, Steve Waugh, Jason Gillespie and Trevor Bayliss have been out of reach because there simply isn’t enough incentive to be a full-time assistant coach when these people have short-term gigs available to them in the cricket, broadcasting, and corporate worlds that are more lucrative and without the family sacrifices.
McDonald is hugely admired to the point he had been linked to the England coaching position, and it seemed only a matter of time until he was snared by another international team.
One-day international captain Aaron Finch regards McDonald as the best cricket brain he knows and has used him as his trusted confidant.
For Victoria, McDonald has helped lead their era of dominance in Australian domestic cricket.
Recruiting the 38-year-old former four-Test Australian all-rounder gives Langer a sense of ownership and structure he hasn’t necessarily had since taking on the head coaching role, given he inherited predecessor Darren Lehmann’s staff.
Langer has gone more than six months without an official assistant after parting ways with David Saker last summer.
The most ironic aspect of McDonald’s appointment could be that Saker ends up replacing him at Victoria and the Renegades.
Saker had expressed interest in the Melbourne Stars coaching job before that was given to David Hussey, but he would be an option for Victoria if they had to replace McDonald mid-season.
Australia appointed Ryan Harris as an interim bowling coach for the current Twenty20 series and are using Mike Hussey as a mentor for those matches.
But Langer was always confident he was close to finalising a full-time staff, despite concerns over a limited pool of those interested in the job.
In a recent interview with News Corp, Langer said finding coaches was a unique challenge for Australian cricket – and he has resolved to be flexible with his staff.
“One of the challenges is that some people want to be full time coaches and that’s their profession, that’s what they do, and I’m one of those,” he said.
“There’s a few around like that. That’s our profession is being full time and with that comes some sacrifices.
“There’s some who have so much to offer but they’re different personalities and they like to do different things. Like to do commentary or business stuff or more consultative style coaching. That’s fine.
“And some who just come in and be around. It’s not their job, but they just come in because they love being around the set-up again.
“Throughout the summer we’ll get great people.”