Australia strengthen Coaching setup

MELBOURNE—Cricket Australia (CA) moved to strengthen their national coaching set-up with the appointment of Richard McInnes as a full-time performance analyst, the organisation said on Friday.
A senior coach at CA’s centre of excellence, McInnes will be responsible for coordinating the team’s video and computer analysis.
Video analysis had been shared by assistant team coaches Jamie Siddons and Dene Hills, however, after Australia lost the Ashes to England, CA embarked on a review of the national team’s coaching set-up.
Part of that review included examining the role of coach John Buchanan, whose contract was extended to the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies.
“As part of the detailed review of Australia’s current team management structure, a need was identified to split the roles of assistant coach and performance analyst,” CA chief executive James Sutherland said in a statement.
“The increasing importance of technology in sport means the demands on the performance analyst are growing all the time, and in the past those demands may have impinged on the assistant coach’s ability to perform his daily coaching duties.
“Therefore by allowing the assistant coach to simply coach, we now think we now have a more balanced structure in place to provide the best environment for the Australian players to get the best out of themselves”.
CA also said on Friday that Creagh O’Connnor had succeeded outgoing chairman Bob Merriman, who completed his term.
O’Connor was appointed to the CA board in 1998 and was made deputy chairman in 2004 before his latest promotion.
“Bob has done an outstanding job during his tenure,” O’Connor said of Merriman’s four-year chairmanship.
“He has presided over Cricket Australia during one of its most successful eras (and) has been a strong voice at the International Cricket Council Board table.
“It is a tribute to him that he leaves his role as chairman with the game in such a healthy state”.—Agencies