McDonald introduced as newest head coach of Australian men’s cricket team

Former Australian all-rounder Andrew McDonald has agreed to a four-year deal to coach the men’s national team in all three formats following a short stint as interim coach in Pakistan.

The 40-year-old joined the side as a lead assistant and bowling coach in late 2019 and has filled in as head coach on previous ODI and T20I series both at home and in India and New Zealand. McDonald has earnt admiration from Test skipper Pat Cummins, who declared him a “great operator”.

“The boys absolutely love him,” Cummins said last month.

“Very diligent, very thorough, strategic, very organised. He’s a huge part of this tour win (in Pakistan).”

Australia’s search for its newest head coach began after former coach Justin Langer resigned in February after rejecting a six-month extension, which sparked plenty of outrage, particularly among his former teammates. Under Langer’s tutelage, Australia retained The Ashes in England in 2019, won The Ashes in Australia earlier this year and won the T20 World Cup last year. It became apparent, however, that Langer’s intensity wore on the players, who voiced their interest in moving on from him behind the scenes.

McDonald, meanwhile, made his Test debut against South Africa in Sydney in 2009 and would go on to play four Test matches, scoring 107 runs and taking nine wickets. He also enjoyed a successful first-class career with Victoria and South Australia, as well as playing for several domestic T20 sides across the world.

As a coach, he has won domestic titles with Victoria and the Melbourne Renegades, including a rare treble in 2018/19 in which he coached teams that won the Sheffield Shield, Marsh Cup, and Big Bash League, and has also spent time as head coach of the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League.

Australia will play another five Test matches and three T20 matches before October’s T20 World Cup; they will head to India in September for an historic one-off Test match against Afghanistan before contesting the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in a four-Test series against India, followed by a three-match T20 series against India.