Cricket Australia (CA) today announces a change to its fast bowling coaching structure with Craig McDermott appointed as Test Bowling Coach while Ali de Winter will be Limited Overs Bowling Coach.
Commenting on the changes, General Manager Team Performance Pat Howard said: “Appointing coaches to specific roles is something the Team Performance Department has been considering for some time.
“Given the amount of cricket played now in all three forms of the game, we’ve been considering our coaching structure to get the best out of the players across the various formats.
“We also feel that with the amount of touring now it is extremely difficult for every member of the support staff to be on every tour. As we’ve seen in more recent times we’ve swapped our support staff at particular moments to ensure everyone is fresh and energised and the feedback on that has been very positive,” Howard said.
Commenting on the decision, Australian Team Coach Darren Lehmann said: “It’s great that Craig is now in a position to be involved again and also means we are able to allow Ali to focus on the limited overs formats ahead of the ICC World T20 and 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup which are coming up quickly.
“Less time travelling for both Ali and Craig also means more time at home to plan, work with the states or BBL teams and also directly with the bowlers on technical aspects or other areas for improvement,” Lehmann said.
Commenting on the appointment, Craig McDermott said: “I’m very happy to be in a position to join the Australian coaching setup again and I look forward to working closely with Darren Lehmann, Michael Clarke and the team this summer.
“There is obviously a huge focus on regaining the Ashes this summer and I’ll work as hard as possible to prepare our bowlers for the challenge ahead,” McDermott said.
Commenting on his appointment as Australian Team Limited Overs Bowling Coach, Ali de Winter said: “We have the two most important limited overs tournaments in world cricket coming up with the ICC World T20 in Bangladesh next year and then the 2015 ICC World Cup in Australia in 2015 so I’m very much looking forward to working with the fast bowlers as we build-up to these events.
"I enjoy both forms of the limited overs game and welcome the challenge of working with the bowlers on specific preparation and tactical awareness for each of these formats.
"We have some work to do between now and each of the world events and I'm looking forward to focussing on contributing to returning Australia to the number 1 ranking in T20 and ODI cricket," de Winter said.