Why Andrew McDonald was the right fit for the Australian cricket team following the departure of Justin Langer

Twenty-one months on from the departure of Justin Langer, it is clear that Andrew McDonald was the perfect fit to take over. Find out what makes ‘Ronnie’ so well respected in the Aussie dressing room.

The first thing Adam Zampa mentions when asked for insights into Australia’s coach is how he’s got a big head. This has nothing to do with Andrew McDonald being arrogant or conceited. It’s just that beneath that flaming hair is a mega-noggin.

“He has to get special hats. So we’re like, ’Ronnie (McDonald), why do you have a Star Wars hat?’ He’s had this golf hat he was wearing around with Yoda,” Zampa told this masthead.

“He was like, ‘it’s the only one that fits.’”

The cricket calendar is such these days that it is effectively impossible to tick every box.

Under McDonald Australia has not been perfect, bungling its Twenty20 World Cup defence on home soil last year, blowing key moments to lose 2-1 in India earlier in 2023 and relinquishing a 2-0 lead in a thwarted quest to win an Ashes series in England for the first time in 22 years.

But should the Aussies topple India in Ahmedabad on Sunday, they will have in the same calendar year clinched world titles in one-day and Test cricket, as well as retaining the urn. Even the most gnarled critics of the side would find it hard to poke holes in that record.

Twenty-one months on from the acrimonious departure of Justin Langer, it is clear that McDonald, much like that Yoda hat, has been the right fit for this Australian team.

Players and support staff are happy, and the side is winning.

Pat Cummins and Andrew McDonald have a calming influence over the Australian team. Picture: Getty Images

An exceptional domestic player for Victoria, McDonald’s brief Test foray had come and gone by the time he arrived in South Australia as a veteran recruit more than a decade ago.

He joined in the same season as Zampa, then a callow spinner from regional NSW, arrived at the Redbacks hoping to establish himself as a regular state player.

“He was a mentor to quite a few of us young guys. I was 21, Heady (Travis Head) was 19. Me and Heady lived with Ronnie’s brother Brenton. So we saw a lot of Ronnie,” Zampa said.

Leg-spinner Zampa eventually found his feet in Adelaide, graduating to become a national player in 2016 before moving back to NSW a few years ago. It was a bumpy start though, with the other McDonald leapfrogging Zampa into the SA side.

“First few games I didn’t play because Ronnie’s brother got picked, Ronnie didn’t get picked either so we got stuck in Adelaide. Watched the 2013 NRL grand final together. He was a mentor to a lot of us younger guys.

“He didn’t play much because of his injuries. But yeah, he’s a great man, deep thinker about the game. And I think because he was still playing when we were all still playing, he kind of has an understanding of how we all think and what we all need. And the environment he has created as a coach, I think it’s helpful to a lot of players.”

Mitchell Starc entered the Aussie setup a year after McDonald had exited from the national fray.

The left-armer’s early memories of the coach are instead of a diligent state professional who maximised his talent.

“He was part of that Victorian team that were incredibly experienced, feisty, I didn’t know him as a young guy,” Starc told this masthead.

McDonald was a highly accomplished state player for Victoria and South Australia.

“He just seemed like your stock standard incredibly hard working cricketer. Whether he didn’t get the opportunities he may have because of the golden generation that we had at the time in Australian cricket, he was a well-recognised, well-credentialed domestic cricketer who played a lot around the world.”

Long viewed as a coaching star on the rise, McDonald steered Victoria to a Shield title in his first season in charge in 2016-17 before claiming a domestic treble with the Vice and Melbourne Renegades two years later. Snapped up for jobs in the Indian Premier League and The Hundred, McDonald joined Langer’s staff as an assistant in late 2019.

The ice to Langer’s fire, McDonald quickly became a confidant for players. When the former Test opener’s stint drew to its grisly close, McDonald was a popular internal choice to take over.

“He hasn’t really changed since when he was on as an assistant coach in the fact that he’s incredibly calm,” Starc said.

“Whether he feels it inside or not, he portrays a really calm character that I think (it) rubs off on all his players.

“He’s got an incredible cricket mind and I think his attention to detail, his calmness. He had all that as an assistant coach, and I think that’s just been an extension into him as a head coach now and how he works with Patty (Cummins).

“They’re both very calm characters. It’s not an act, whatever you see it’s genuine, an incredibly genuine care for his players. Between Pat and Ron, they’re always thinking about the game and trying to be one step ahead and you throw in (assistant) Dan Vettori, him and Ron are (the) same person, one’s from Australia (and) one’s from New Zealand.

McDonald has prioritised communication with players. Picture: Getty Images

“So we’re very lucky to have guys that, certainly a full staff group, that have the relationship they do … because that … is what makes our group so calm and gel so easily.

“That’s led from Patty and Ron but filters through.

“I’ve no doubt that like everyone, they probably internally feel it or reflect at different times, but I think if they do, they’re very good at controlling what’s rubbed off on their group.

“(There has) certainly been times we haven’t played very good cricket or we’ve been under the pump for (the way) we started this World Cup for instance and it’s never been panic stations, has never been reinvent the wheel. It’s always ‘trust the process, let’s just execute better.’”

Communication from selectors, long a sore point in Australian cricket, no longer seems like an issue.

While no player wants to be dropped, McDonald and selection chair George Bailey - who takes a hands-on approach to training when on tour - have forged strong relationships with players, allowing them to make tough calls without burning bridges.

Starc has been omitted more times than he would care to remember over his 13 years in international cricket, and even as recently as last week was disappointed to be rested for the World Cup game against Bangladesh. But because of the way the message was conveyed, he swallowed it well.

“I think George and Ron are two guys that have probably been through it as well, right? So they’re not going to beat around the bush,” Starc said.

“When it’s very transparent, it’s a lot easier to take or a lot easier to understand.”

Originally published as Why Andrew McDonald was the right fit for the Australian cricket team following the departure of Justin Langer