Australian cricket coach Tim Nielsen has announced he’s leaving the role

immediately following the team’s 1-0 Test series win over Sri Lanka.

Nielsen,

who was told he had to re-apply for the job last month following the

release of the Argus Report, announced shortly after the third Test in

Colombo finished in a draw that he was stepping down from the position.

The

43-year-old, who only signed a new three-year contract before last

summer’s Ashes, says his decision came after extensive consultation with

his family.

It’s also an immediate one meaning Australia will

most likely need to find a new coach, or at least an interim one, for

next month’s tour of South Africa.

“We’ve gone through a lot of

thinking I suppose over the last six months, since the end of the Ashes

series and the review process has come up with some recommendations that

are meant for Australian cricket to get better,” Nielsen told

reporters.

“One of those means the new head coaching role is

different to what I’m doing at the moment and had some different

responsibilities added to it.

“… For me to continue on I need

to go through an interview process, I need to go back into the ring with

whoever else wants to apply and at the moment I just don’t feel it’s

right for myself or the team, to put us through that.

“I think

the right time is now for me to finish and that’s the message I’ll be

giving to Cricket Australia over the next 48 hours.”

During

Nielsen’s four years in the role, after he replaced John Buchanan

following the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean, he’s experienced some

mixed results as Australia handled the transition following the

retirement of several big-name players.

In that time Australia

have sunk from the top of the world Test rankings to fourth and lost the

Ashes in 2009 and last summer in Australia.

But he felt the he’d had to endure harsh criticism during his time at the helm, including the results of the Argus Report.

“It has been a tough month,” Nielsen said.

“I

feel as though, through something external and totally independent from

what I do, my role has been changed and therefore my job has been spilt

to other applicants.

“The only thing I’m disappointed about is

my role as Australian cricket coach doesn’t just cover Test match

cricket – we’ve maintained our No.1 ranking in one-day cricket for the

last four years.

“I feel as though we’re on the right track and

all of this has been brought to the head that we played a very good

cricket side in England last year and they outplayed us and beat us and

that happens sometimes.

“There’s the personal side to it and that’s hard and it has played a little part in my thinking.

“I’ve

felt like I’m doing an interview for the job every day for the last

four years … I would have appreciated a chance to work in the role

moving forward but when you get beaten like we did against England, a

very good cricket side, there’s always fallout.

“I don’t hold any grudges about that but I also would have backed myself to be able to do the job.”