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.”