Nielsen not worried with Buchanan’s England assignment

SYDNEY - Australian coach Tim Nielsen isn’t losing his sleep over his predecessor John Buchanan’s decision to joining the England cricket board ahead of the Ashes.

Buchanan surprised everyone by joining England’s elite cricket set-up before the Ashes and will work with their under-19 and second-string Lions teams. His time in England coincides with Australia’s tour match against the Lions from July 1-4, just four days before the first Ashes Test in Cardiff.

While Nielsen doubted that Buchanan would be of much use as a potential informant to the England Test team, former spinner Stuart MacGill feels that England has done Australia an Ashes favour by calling on the services of Buchanan.

MacGill said that Buchanan was the big reason behind Australia’s shock loss in 2005 on English soil.

Nielsen said: “I’m not sure he’ll have too much information he can share on our team, but it’s great for cricket he can share his knowledge and expertise on the game,” Nielsen said. It’s all part of the world of sport.”

MacGill said that if England need someone to unearth a proper game plan against Australia, Duncan Fletcher and not Buchanan would have been their first choice.

“John Buchanan’s mantra has always been that if the players look after themselves, the results will look after themselves,” MacGill was quoted as saying by the Courier Mail.

“In 2005 Australia had a very, very good side, all they needed to do was tailor-make a game plan, and we didn’t. We didn’t spend any time on their players or conditions.

“What won England the Ashes in 2005 was their bowling, and if you look at it now, we got (bowling coach) Troy Cooley and they got John Buchanan - Troy Cooley won England the Ashes and John Buchanan lost it for us.

“At the end of the day, I don’t begrudge Buck for trying to make a living, but his coaching record in England isn’t crash hot. He lost the Ashes and had a stint with Middlesex that also didn’t work out.”

Buchanan also insisted that he wasn’t an Ashes traitor - but strongly defended his right to provide coaching advice to Australia’s arch enemy.

“I will not be in England for the Ashes,” Buchanan said.

“What this is about is going over to England to have a look at their elite programmes and their under-16 and under-19 set-ups. Coaching is a worldwide profession. Rod Marsh has coached in England, Greg Chappell has coached India,” he said.