McDonald faces a busy year that will include defending Australia’s T20 World Cup: “The journey so far has been particularly enjoyable and I am honored to have this incredible opportunity for what is an exciting period ahead.”
Andrew McDonald has been named head coach on a four-year contract
Cricket Australia (CA) has appointed former Test all-rounder Andrew McDonald as head coach of the Australian men’s team on a four-year contract.
McDonald, 40, who has been interim head coach since February, joined Australia’s coaching team in 2019 after leading the Victoria and Melbourne Renegades to all three domestic competition titles during the 2018-19 season.
CA made the official announcement on Wednesday, saying McDonald “brings a wealth of coaching experience to the role, having also held head coaching roles in the Indian Premier League and English county cricket.”
The 40-year-old also previously held the head assistant coaching role alongside former head coach Justin Langer.
The latter’s surprising departure in early February drew harsh criticism from a host of former cricketers, including the late Shane Warne.
Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden were others who took issue with CA’s treatment of Langer when the team had just won the World Cup and the Ashes.
The outrage had prompted captain Pat Cummins to clarify that there was never a problem with Langer’s “intensity”, but that the team needed a “calmer” and “more collaborative” approach.
McDonald’s appointment as new head coach comes after last week’s historic tour of Pakistan, where he led the test team to a series win, lost the one-day series 2-1 and won the only T20 International.
“The journey so far has been particularly enjoyable and I am honored to have this incredible opportunity for what is an exciting period ahead,” McDonald said.
“The success of the World Cup, the Ashes Series and now Pakistan has been a testament to the hard work and leadership of Justin, Pat and Aaron along with the players and support staff.
“My plan is to build on the growth, depth and experience of the team while working collectively with the group and across the game. There are a lot of short-term challenges that I know the leadership group, players and staff are excited about.” I would also like to thank my family for their support.”
CA CEO Nick Hockley said: “We interviewed a number of excellent candidates for this role, which is one of the biggest in Australian sport.
“Andrew has already proven himself to be an excellent head coach and the vision he outlined for the role during the appointment process was impressive and exciting, making him our clear choice.
“We are proud of the way the team played and the respect shown throughout the tour of Pakistan under the leadership of Andrew, Pat and Aaron, and we are very pleased that Andrew is taking over the role permanently.”
Executive General Manager Ben Oliver said, “Andrew has done an outstanding job as interim head coach and has made a positive impact on the team.
“I look forward to supporting Andrew and the team as we plan an exciting period, including tours to Sri Lanka and India, a T20 World Cup and the summer at home before an Ashes away series.
Andrew has been appointed as head coach in all formats, although some white-ball series may be led by an assistant given the significant workload ahead of us and the opportunity to continue to develop our coaches and players.”
Australia’s cricket board and players’ union have entered into a multi-year license agreement to issue NFTs (non-fungible tokens) in their bid to tap into the digital collectibles market.
NFTs are digital assets, often linked to an image, video, or sound clip, whose ownership is authenticated using blockchain technology.
Professional sports leagues and teams, including the National Basketball Association and the German Bundesliga, have joined the industry to generate new revenue streams from paying fans and investors.
The cricket deal, in association with Rario and digital trading company BlockTrust, will pave the way for fans to purchase NFTs involving Australian players.
“This is just the beginning and I have no doubt we will see tremendous benefit to fans, players and the sport itself as we build on this exciting partnership,” CA boss Nick Hockley said in a statement.
Revenues will be shared between CA and former and current players, although details of the deal have not been made public.
