Australia head coach McDonald questions England’s decision to split the job

England have decided to appoint two separate head coaches for red and white ball cricket, but new Australia coach Andrew McDonald has questioned the practicality of such a split

Australia ‘s new head coach Andrew McDonald has questioned England ‘s decision to split the role between red and white ball cricket.

Last week, the ECB formally begun the process to find Chris Silverwood’s replacement by advertising online for two new head coaches. England were said to be interested in McDonald before he was confirmed as Justin Langer’s replacement.

And when asked about the interest, McDonald revealed the idea of split coaching roles dissuaded him from considering the job, claiming the split can compromise “continuity of messaging”. Speaking to SEN radio, he said: “No I don’t think there was a risk.

“I think the way that they’re going to set-up, structure up, is clear. I think they’re going to go for a split coaching role.

“My views on that differ slightly. My belief is to still have that one coach and share the workload within that.

“I think for me the continuity of messaging is critical. But also the priorities shift. And people probably don’t like me saying this, but the priorities do shift at certain times. You can’t be everything to everyone.

“For example, Pat Cummins, on the back of three Test matches in Pakistan, at the end of that he’s severely fatigued and then the white-ball team gets compromised because Pat Cummins isn’t playing. But he’s not ready to perform in that environment.

“If you had split coaches, which format takes priority? So, I think the ability to have one selection panel, one coach to work through that, give the direction to what the priorities are at the time and managing the overall squad as such and then someone, potentially a Michael Di Venuto or another assistant coach, coming in to allow the head coach to balance the workload but still stick on the same path.

“For example, we’re going to build towards the 2023 World Cup, am I going to do every one-day game leading into that World Cup? There’s no chance of that. So I think that the continuity of messaging for me is important.”