Pat Cummins and Andrew McDonald are set to lead Australia into the national team’s next “mega year” in 2027 after the head coach reached terms with Cricket Australia to extend his tenure until the end of that year.
McDonald’s decision also means he and Cummins have taken responsibility for managing the transition of an ageing team with younger blood such as Sam Konstas and Nathan McSweeney in coming years. Cummins and McDonald agreed to the contract extension last week.
Australia captain Pat Cummins celebrates with coach Andrew McDonald.Credit: AP
Speaking to this masthead, Cummins had previously indicated that he was open to leading the team in Test matches and major white ball tournaments until 2027, which will feature Test tours of India and England plus the next 50-over World Cup.
But he wanted McDonald alongside him to continue their successful coach and captain tandem that began with a drought-breaking series win in Pakistan in 2022.
McDonald, in turn, wanted to ensure he had a strong support team around him, with assistant coaches including Michael Di Venuto, Dan Vettori and Andre Borovec coming off contract at the end of this season.
“Andrew has proven to be an outstanding men’s head coach who as well as delivering exceptional results has built a strong coaching team, methodology and an excellent environment for the team to perform at its best,” CA’s chief executive Nick Hockley said. “We are delighted to extend his tenure for a further two years.”
For McDonald, the contract extension underlines his impact in creating a calm and measured environment around the Australian team, which has demonstrated an ability to withstand pressures on the road and to lift major trophies. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy, held by India since 2017, is the one major garland the team has not lifted since he joined the setup as an assistant to Justin Langer in 2019.
“I am very fortunate to have an exceptional group of leaders, players, coaches and staff who are fully invested in the ongoing well-being, success and development of this group,” McDonald said. “The professionalism, commitment and experience of my fellow coaches and the wider staff have ensured the journey has been extremely successful but just as importantly created a culture of unity, trust and inclusivity.”
Cummins, having gained the captaincy in the wake of Tim Paine’s forced resignation in 2021, now believes he can continue in the role for longer than first thought.
“I feel like I can manage a lot more than what I did back then, just by getting better at it and having some wonderful people around that help,” he said. “It feels like a pretty well-run machine at the moment where the coaches, staff, all the players get on with the work and [I] don’t need to be as hands-on as when I first came in.
“I’m not going to do it forever, but I wouldn’t say it’s imminent that I’m going to step away. With ‘Ronnie’ [McDonald] and the coaching staff we want to keep that together because that makes my job a little bit easier.”
