Troy Cooley Named As Interim Australia Coach

Troy Cooley Named As Interim Australia Coach

Troy Cooley will take charge of Australia in South Africa

©Action Images / Jason O'Brien

Following the resignation of Head Coach Tim Nielsen, Cricket Australia (CA) have appointed Troy Cooley as interim coach for the upcoming tour of South Africa.

Cooley is currently the Head Coach at CA's Centre of Excellence in Brisbane and has been employed as a bowling coach since 2006, while he was also acting coach during the final part of Australia's 2009 tour of England.

He coached the Australia A side which toured Zimbabwe earlier this year and he is looking forward to this new role, which will also see him become an acting national selector ahead of the tour.

"I feel excited and comfortable coming into this ‘caretakers role’ knowing that Michael Clarke, Shane Watson and Tim Nielsen have been planning this South African campaign for a while now," he said.

"My immediate task will be to come up to speed with their plans and work with the players and support team to ensure the preparation is spot on for a successful tour.

"My working knowledge of the Australian team and our opposition will no doubt be an asset in the short term as we look to build on the successful tour of Sri Lanka.

"My role is to ensure all players have what they need to prepare for the tour and to oversee the support staff to ensure the best possible results."

CA General Manager Michael Brown added:

"Troy has filled this role successfully in the past, and has worked extensively with all players within the Australian set-up and with our younger squad members at CA’s CoE.

"Troy has advised that he will not be an applicant for the Head Coach role, given his significant and important duties at the CoE.

"This appointment will therefore allow the Australian squad continuity as they attempt to cement their number one ODI ranking and attempt to climb the ICC Test rankings."

© Cricket World 2011