Gillespie and Ponting: Australia's coaching dream team

Darren Lehmann must be sacked as Australian head coach, regardless of whether or not he was party to the ball tampering plan.

Lehmann’s position as coach is untenable, in the same way that Steve Smith and David Warner cannot retain their captain and vice-captain roles. Australia needs to create an entire new leadership unit.

» UPDATE: Lehmann has reportedly decided to step down as Australian coach

Smith denies Lehmann knew of the ball tampering plan which he admits was hatched by Australia’s leadership group, but there is reason to doubt that claim.

There is very suspicious footage of Lehmann using a walkie talkie to seemingly communicate with reserve fieldsman Peter Handscomb who then goes on the field and talks to Bancroft, who in turn hides the tape he used to ball tamper.

If Lehmann knew of the plan to cheat then he obviously cannot continue as coach. If he didn’t know that is also very serious, indicating he has no control over his players, who chose to cheat under his nose. Either scenario is a sackable offence.

Australia need to overhaul the culture of its team and this cannot be done under the stewardship of the same coach who has led them for almost five years.

They require a new coach to come in and set fresh standards, pulling in to line any players who act as though they are bigger than the team.

Fortunately Australia have three outstanding local options to take on such a role. Jason Gillespie, Ricky Ponting and Justin Langer are accomplished coaches who also happen to be champions of Australian cricket and greatly respected figures.

All three men have had coaching roles with the Australian team over the past few years but now is the time for one of them to take over the top job.

(Photo by Ryan Pierse – CA/Cricket Australia/Getty Images)

Lehmann was scheduled to step down from the job in 18 months from now after the 2019 Ashes, with the main candidates in line to replace him being the aforementioned trio plus current assistant coach David Saker.

If Lehmann is to step down or be sacked then I can’t see how his right-hand man Saker could be saved either, ruling him out of the race to become head coach.

Gillespie, to me, would be the ideal replacement for Lehmann and you would imagine that, as a dedicated coach, he would jump at the opportunity. He started his coaching career eight years ago in Zimbabwe and has since served in a wide variety of different coaching positions.

In 2011 he became a bowling coach in the IPL and then embarked on a remarkably successful five-season stint as head coach of Yorkshire in English county cricket. In his first season Yorkshire earned a promotion to division one, in his second they were runners-up in division one, before taking out the title in his third and fourth years, and almost completing a three-peat in his fifth season.

(Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)

Gillespie has most recently coached the Adelaide Strikers to the last Big Bash League title and had a brief stint as Australia’s assistant T20 coach. That is an impeccable resume.

The question now is whether Gillespie is actually available to take on the Australian role given he recently signed a three-year contract as the new head coach of Sussex in county cricket. It is not clear whether Gillespie could get out of that contract.

The former Australian fast bowler was scathing of Smith and Warner in a column he wrote yesterday for The Guardian about the cheating fiasco.

Gillespie said they should be stripped of their roles of captain and vice-captain. “The brutal reality is that this team are seen as arrogant and all too quick to dictate “the line” to others”, he wrote.

“It was not so long ago that Warner was ripping into Faf du Plessis for ball-tampering in 2016, saying Australia would never do the same. The events over the weekend have exposed this as rank hypocrisy.”

Gillespie made it clear he believed major cultural change was needed within the team, which is precisely the attitude required of the new head coach.

Whoever takes over as coach should have a major say in who is made captain and vice-captain so he can work closely with them to foster a new, improved team culture and to try to rebuild the integrity of Australian cricket.

As a former Australian captain himself, Ricky Ponting is intimately familiar with the pressures associated with this role. Ponting has said he wishes to be Australia’s full-time T20 coach and recently served as Lehmann’s assistant in the T20 tri-series against New Zealand and England.

So far Ponting’s head coaching experience has been limited to the shortest format. He coached the Mumbai Indians to the 2015 IPL title during a two-year stint with the club and will be head coach of the Delhi Daredevils in the upcoming IPL season.

But Ponting is no T20 specialist – anyone who has listened to his incisive commentary on Test match cricket would be well aware of the remarkable knowledge and feel he has for the longest format. He’s also a colossal figure in Australian cricket, the kind of man every current Australian player would respect enormously.

As much can be gleaned by recent comments from Glenn Maxwell, who was generous in his praise of Ponting’s coaching during the T20 tri-series.

“He’s just been so good around the group, especially with his speeches beforehand and speaking to players one-on-one,” Maxwell said of Ponting. “He’s got a great ability to get the best out of someone dealing with them for a short space of time. His work ethic is through the roof and everyone is grateful for having him there.”

Ponting’s long-time Australian teammate Langer is another very strong option, owning greater coaching experience than Ponting himself. Langer in 2009 became Australia’s national batting coach and assistant coach for three years until late 2012 when he became head coach of Western Australia and the Perth Scorchers, a position he’s held ever since.

During his reign WA have made two Sheffield Shield finals, twice won the domestic One Day Cup, and the Scorchers have been the dominant team in the BBL, winning the title three times in the past five seasons.

Like Gillespie, Langer boasts a sensational coaching resume. Australia are in deep turmoil right now but are lucky that in Gillespie, Ponting and Langer they have three fantastic candidates to rejuvenate the team.

The dream scenario would be somehow landing two of those three men, with one serving as Australia’s head coach and the other as their highly-qualified assistant.

Australia would be in a great position if they had Gillespie as head coach of the Test and ODI teams, with Ponting as his assistant in those roles while also being the head coach of the Twenty20team.