Australia steps up search for new coach
Cricket Australia will conduct a global search as it seeks to find the best person for the new, expanded head coach role being recruited as a result of the Australian Team Performance Review (ATPR).
CA has appointed Melbourne sports management consultancy Crank Sports to assist CEO James Sutherland and former Wallaby and new CA GM Team Performance appointee Pat Howard to recruit a head coach. Crank Sports, through its Managing Director, Craig Mitchell has undertaken similar projects with a number of AFL clubs where he has been recognised for developing a new approach to sports coach selection.
The head coach will report to Howard and CA Chief Executive Officer James Sutherland said head coach recruitment can be accelerated now Howard is able to be involved in the process.
"This is a pivotal role and we are thinking globally and also outside the square - international success as a player and/or coach may well be worthwhile attributes - but we will look far more broadly in assessing individuals against the specific criteria we regard as necessary for success in this role," he said.
"We want a new head coach in place as soon as possible but by the same token, it is more important to get the right person for this critical role than it is to be driven by a self-imposed deadline," he said.
"The nature of the role is different to what it has been and, as highlighted in the ATPR, this new head coach role requires an ability to work with multiple relationships outside the team - through state cricket and at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane - as well as overseeing the coaching personnel around the team."
Sutherland said the working relationship between head coach and captain as leaders of the playing group was important and he would continue to involve Michael Clarke in the process.
As with Howard's new role announced last week, the new head coach role was a key recommendation of the ATPR and was approved by CA's Board in August.
Longer term, the ATPR recommended that selected ODIs and or ODI series may be delegated to an assistant coach and/or appointing a separate T20 coach to ensure the head coach is able to give appropriate attention to his national role and non-day-to-day team duties. This would also provide development opportunities to assistant coaches.
Sutherland said Crank Sports had been appointed to the recruitment role because of their highly specific expertise and success, based on their specialist research, experience working through similar processes for the appointment of high performance coaches and design framework for the assessment of the candidacy of high performance coaches.
"This is a demanding national leadership role that will in, the short term, focus primarily on co-ordinating the coaching, direction and preparation around the Australian team. The ATPR identifies that this role is broader than previous team coaching roles. As such, the successful applicant needs to be someone who can, in time, progressively step up to work more closely with state coaches and the Centre of Excellence, and oversee a national coaching effort that fast tracks the transition of talented state players into world class international cricketers."