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Buchanan joins ECB for Ashes planning

Australia's former coach John Buchanan has been enlisted by the ECB to help England with their preparations for this winter's Ashes series

Cricinfo staff
08-Aug-2010
Australia's former coach John Buchanan has been enlisted by the ECB to help England with their preparations for this winter's Ashes series.
Buchanan, 57, was Australia's coach for eight years from 1999 to 2007, and signed off from the role by helping the team thrash England 5-0 to complete the first Ashes whitewash in 86 years. All told he won three out of four Ashes series, and two out of two World Cups, and on his watch Australia lost just two Test series - the 2005 Ashes, and the 2000-01 tour of India.
Last summer Buchanan worked with the ECB on a consultancy basis ahead of their 2-1 victory in England, but according to the Sunday Telegraph, his brief on this occasion will be much wider. In particular, he will be asked to provide specific insights into Australia's senior players, not least Ricky Ponting, who was critical of Buchanan's involvement with England in 2009.
Although his methods were not universally welcomed by the players with whom he worked - not least Shane Warne, who was and remains an especially vocal critic - Buchanan will provide key insight into the five venues where the Ashes will be contested, and along with the bowling coach, David Saker, will provide an invaluable Australian angle for England's strategists.
"He's a bit different, and thinks a bit differently to most coaches, but a lot of the stuff he brings up is fantastic, while a lot of it can be a bit left field, or from Pluto as Shane Warne says, definitely no doubt he has some good stuff in his mind," Saker told Cricinfo's Switch Hit podcast. "It's just about picking as many brains as we possibly can before the Ashes, and if we get 1% better from all the people we speak to, it's going to make us a better team. It's just good planning and good management."
Buchanan is expected to work with the England Under-19s during his time in the country, as well as David Parsons, the ECB's performance director, at Loughborough. It is also thought that he could link up with the squad when they land in Australia in November. "I can confirm that he is coming here this week," said an ECB spokesman.