David Saker steps down as Australia's assistant coach

At a time when Australia are gearing up for one of the most significant years in their cricket history, David Saker stepped down as their assistant coach. Cricket Australia confirmed the news on Thursday (February 7).  Saker had plied his trade for England and Australia’s domestic team Victoria before being roped in by Australia in 2016.

Australia now faces the prospect of a coaching restructure just months out from the two important events – the ICC World Cup 2019 and the Ashes. Australia are the defending champions in both and will be desperate to defend their titles when they fly to England later this year.

While Saker was appointed as the assistant coach, he worked very closely with the pacers of the team. He is credited for developing the current crop of the Australian bowlers – Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins. Saker’s contract was set to end after the Ashes.

Australia have appointed Troy Cooley as the assistant coach for the upcoming series against India and Pakistan. Cooley had previously served as the bowling coach of England and Australia. Australia head coach Justin Langer thanked Saker for his services before saying that the decision was in the best interest of the team.

“David and I have had ongoing discussions over the past nine months about his role with the team, and we agreed it’s the right time to head in a different direction in the best interests of the team,” Langer said in the statement. “I’d like to thank David for his significant contribution, in particular in the role he has played in helping develop a core group of Australian pace bowlers.”

All was not well

Cricket Australia’s general manager Belinda Clark insisted that the “unprecedented schedule” of the upcoming months was one of the reasons behind Saker’s sudden decision to step down. But perhaps not everything is fine within the Australian camp. Last week, Mitchell Starc had credited New South Wales’ bowling coach Andre Adams when he returned to form in the second Test against Sri Lanka.

With Saker saying that he is looking forward to new coaching roles in his goodbye statement only raises the suspicion. “I’ve enjoyed my time with the team, in particular, working closely with a great group of fast bowlers and in time will look forward to a new coaching role,” said Saker. Australia’s immediate assignment is the limited-overs tour of India later this month where they will play two T20Is and five ODIs.

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