John Buchanan signs new two-year contract

Cricket Australian today announced that Australian men's coach John Buchanan has signed a new two-year contract that will take him through until October 2005.

The new agreement ensures that Buchanan, who took over the post in late October 1999 in succession to Geoff Marsh, will be at the helm when Australia seeks its ninth consecutive Ashes victory in the winter of 2005.

It also means he will supervise the forthcoming tours to India, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, the International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy in England, and Australia's home Test and one-day international series for the next two seasons.

Cricket Australia Chief Executive Officer James Sutherland said: "We are very pleased to have been able to extend John's contract.

"Since his appointment John has played a major role in Australia's international success.

"The Australian Test and one-day international sides are now regarded as the best in the world and one of the reasons for that is because we have a world-class support team.

"In aiming to maintain this success, Cricket Australia has identified the importance of continuity in the team management structure."

After taking charge for the first Test of the home season of 1999-2000, Buchanan has helped Australia set world records in Test and one-day international cricket.

In Test cricket, he supervised 15 of the 16 successive victories achieved by the side, a new world mark beating the 11 straight wins of Clive Lloyd's great West Indies team of 1984.

And in the one-day game, Australia registered 21 victories without loss during 2002-03, another world record, that included a clean-sweep at the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup in South Africa.

John Buchanan said: "The last four years have been a wonderful experience for me and I'm extremely grateful to have the opportunity to be associated with the Australian team for another two years.

"We have had a great deal of success so far but now the challenge is to raise the bar again and we will be trying to do just that.

"As well as looking to maintain the high levels of performance we have achieved at times over the past four years, we have also got tangible targets to aim for.

"The task of remaining the number-one side in the ICC's Test and one-day rankings is an ongoing challenge, and there's also the goal of conquering the away Test series against India next September.

"And on top of those shortto medium-term goals there is also the task of maintaining our success over a longer period of time by continuing to develop our processes and relationships with the states.

"I guess my role is to try and play a leading role in coaching across Australia, helping to devise new methods for developing players both on and off the field.

"That includes Cricket Australia's strong focus on protecting and enhancing the spirit of cricket.

"These are real challenges for us all but hopefully they will be enjoyable challenges too, and it will be great to be a part of it all."

Before taking up the role of Australia's coach, Buchanan enjoyed five successful years with the Queensland Bulls helping to pilot it to two domestic first-class titles, the first in the state's history, and two domestic one-day championships.

Cricket Australia also announced that Australian Team Manager Steve Bernard and Physical Performance Manager Jock Campbell will sign new two-year agreements.