Former Australia coach Tim Nielsen returns to guide next generation

Almost 14 years after resigning as Australian head coach, Tim Nielsen has been brought back into the fold as the national team braces for potential wholesale change over the next few seasons.

Almost 14 years after resigning as Australian head coach, Tim Nielsen is back at Cricket Australia.

Nielsen, 57, has again joined CA to head up the national talent pathway and will work closely with the national male under-19 program in the lead-up to next January’s World Cup.

Things have come full circle for Nielsen, given he held a similar role as head development coach at what was then known as CA’s centre of excellence in Brisbane in the mid-2000s, before taking over from John Buchanan as coach of the national men’s side.

The former South Australian wicketkeeper was at the helm between 2007 and 2011, a challenging period of transition for the Australian side dotted with the highs of a Test series win in South Africa and Champions Trophy crown and several crushing losses, most notably the horror 2010-11 Ashes series on home soil. That 3-1 thrashing at the hands of England led to Don Argus’s national team performance review, from which considerable change followed.

Don Argus presents his review of Australian cricket in 2011. PIcture: AFP Photo/William West

Nielsen was asked to reapply for his job, instead opting to resign after winning what proved to be his final Test series in charge in Sri Lanka.

Since leaving CA, Nielsen served as South Australia’s cricket high performance chief for a decade before an ill-fated stint in Pakistan working alongside former SA teammate Jason Gillespie.

The Nielsen appointment is part of broader changes within CA’s development and pathways program, headlined by the recent appointment of Tim Paine as Australia A head coach.

Former Queensland opener and West Australian coach Lachlan Stevens, who had served as national development lead as well as coaching Australia A last year and occasionally working as an assistant coach with the national outfit, has left CA to take up a role as director of cricket at the University of Queensland.

Nielsen’s appointment comes as Australia braces for the potential of wholesale change to its national side over the next few seasons, given it is a live prospect that all but Cameron Green will be aged 31 or older of the XI that starts the Ashes series in November.

Originally published as Former Australia coach Tim Nielsen returns to guide next generation