Melbourne: Australia have appointed bowling mentor Troy Cooley as interim head coach for their upcoming tour of South Africa following Tim Nielsen's resignation last week, Cricket Australia (CA) said yesterday.
Cooley, 45, was replaced as bowling coach in May by former test paceman Craig McDermott but has overseen talent development at CA's Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Brisbane.
Cooley previously acted as Australia's head coach when he took up the role for the last three one-day matches during Australia's 6-1 away series victory over England in 2009.
He helped coach England's bowlers to victory over Australia in the 2005 Ashes before being lured back home and helped Ricky Ponting's side exact revenge with a 5-0 whitewash in the following 2006-07 series.
Close relationship
"I've got a pretty good, close relationship with all the players and also the coaching staff there," Cooley told reporters on a conference call.
"I'm pretty confident that we can make sure that we can keep progressing along the lines that [captain] Michael [Clarke] wants to keep progressing. There's a lot of work still to do but the signs are good and I just hope that I can come in and make sure that we continue to keep going forward."
CA general manager of cricket Michael Brown said in a statement Cooley would not be applying for the job permanently.
Nielsen announced his resignation at the end of Australia's 1-0 test series victory over hosts Sri Lanka, weeks after recommendations from a comprehensive review into Australian cricket were released.
The team performance review, conducted in the wake of Australia's galling 3-1 home defeat to England in the Ashes, recommended the appointment of a head coach with expanded powers as a selector.
Cooley, 45, was replaced as bowling coach in May by former test paceman Craig McDermott but has overseen talent development at CA's Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Brisbane.
Cooley previously acted as Australia's head coach when he took up the role for the last three one-day matches during Australia's 6-1 away series victory over England in 2009.
He helped coach England's bowlers to victory over Australia in the 2005 Ashes before being lured back home and helped Ricky Ponting's side exact revenge with a 5-0 whitewash in the following 2006-07 series.
Close relationship
"I've got a pretty good, close relationship with all the players and also the coaching staff there," Cooley told reporters on a conference call.
"I'm pretty confident that we can make sure that we can keep progressing along the lines that [captain] Michael [Clarke] wants to keep progressing. There's a lot of work still to do but the signs are good and I just hope that I can come in and make sure that we continue to keep going forward."
CA general manager of cricket Michael Brown said in a statement Cooley would not be applying for the job permanently.
Nielsen announced his resignation at the end of Australia's 1-0 test series victory over hosts Sri Lanka, weeks after recommendations from a comprehensive review into Australian cricket were released.
The team performance review, conducted in the wake of Australia's galling 3-1 home defeat to England in the Ashes, recommended the appointment of a head coach with expanded powers as a selector.
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