da pinnacle： In picking Tim Nielsen as John Buchanan’s replacementAustralia have compromised left-field vision anddistinguished on-field service
da betway： Peter English05-Feb-2007
Tim Nielsen’s player-centric, skill-based approach should help the new crop of Australians © Getty Images
In picking Tim Nielsen as John Buchanan’s replacementAustralia have compromised left-field vision anddistinguished on-field service. Seven years ago theAustralian Cricket Board ditched the logic that said acoach had to have appeared in more Tests than trainingseminars and appointed a university lecturer. Thetraditionalists were as confused as the players intheir early meetings where Buchanan outlined hispowerpoint plans, but the gamble pushed Australia tounreachable levels.What Ricky Ponting does not need as he rebuilds a teamthat has lost four pillars in a series is anothertechnophile. And in the absence of a recently-retiredplayer such as Steve Waugh, who could have filled aGeoff Marsh-style role, a man was picked who knows thepresent, the future, the science and the practice.Nielsen speaks of himself as hands-on, but he alsoconsiders Buchanan as a mentor and the merging of thespheres is what strengthened his credentials in afield that speculatively included Tom Moody, GregChappell, Dav Whatmore and Bennett King. Over the lastseven years Australia was jammed with outstandingperformers who needed gentle guiding instead ofreality-show makeovers. As Ponting develops his ownsquad of generation whys there will be many questionsthat a cricket coach rather than a man-manager will bebetter qualified at answering.Like Buchanan, Nielsen has never representedAustralia, but he did spend nine seasons as awicketkeeper-batsman at South Australia, and that earnshim credibility Buchanan could never achieve with hisseven first-class games. When a player wants to knowwhy his left knee is collapsing during a cover-drivehe will be confident in quizzing Nielsen. Aged 38, hehas developed a successful new career, but his playingdays were not decades ago and the understanding ofthose on-ground feelings will help make him aconfidante instead of a school master.Nielsen ended a three-year stint as Buchanan’sassistant after the 2005 Ashes series and took anin-house promotion to head the Centre of Excellence inBrisbane. It was a strategic move as many of theplayers who attended the Academy since then weretargeted as short- and medium-term internationaloptions. Unlike Buchanan or a coach called home fromoverseas, Nielsen knows the potential yields of thenext crop and how to foster them.Sitting in a suit and flanked by Cricket Australia’schief executive and chairman, Nielsen accepted the jobafter being approved by the board at a meeting inMelbourne. His family sat in the front row and watchedhis opening lines as the coach-elect. There were nomajor announcements or plans and he is unlikely tobecome a convoluted baiter of the opposition.Australia evolved dramatically with theirno-thought-is-not-worth-a-thought guru. However, nowthe self-sufficiency of the squad has diminished it isnecessary to find someone more orthodox. The new-agephilosophies will not be binned, but in Nielsen thesquad has a player-centric, skills-based coach. It isa low-key choice that is safe and sensible.