August 30, 2006	Wednesday	Sha'aban 5, 1427

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COOLUM (Australia), Aug 29: Australia's top players are divided about who should replace John Buchanan as the country's next coach with opinions split over whether his successor should have played at Test level or not.

Buchanan still has eight months to run in the job after announcing he plans to stand down after next year's World Cup in the Caribbean, but speculation is already mounting over who will take over.

Former Test wicket-keeper Steve Rixon has already declared his interest in the role while former Test players Greg Chappell and Tom Moody, the coaches of India and Sri Lanka respectively, have also been named as possible candidates for the job.

But the early favourite is Tim Nielsen, the head coach at Cricket Australia's Centre of Excellence. Like Buchanan, Neilsen played first-class cricket but not at the highest level and has a sharp cricketing brain.

Australia captain Ricky Ponting said he thought it was irrelevant whether the next coach had represented his country.

“I think it's just going to come down to who's going to be the best fit for our group,” he told reporters at a team training camp.

Buchanan oversaw Australia through one of their most successful eras in world cricket despite an unorthodox approach to coaching but vice-captain Adam Gilchrist said the results were proof his methods worked.

“John's a guy who does feel like there's a job to be done as a coach, ways to go about it. He's had wonderful vision since he came in, and he's a guy who feels that once all those accomplishments have been achieved it's time to move on,” Gilchrist said.

“I think the success of John Buchanan has proven that it's not necessarily the case that you need to have played at that level.”

But not everyone agrees with Ponting and Gilchrist and leg-spinner Shane Warne said he would prefer the next coach to have played at Test level.

“I don't really have a preference for who should do it...but the one thing I'd like to see is someone with some sort of international experience, who understands what the guys are actually going through,” Warne said.

“One of the prerequisites should be part of the coach is to have that cricket common sense, that cricket background where he can actually help.

“Because we're going to go through a transition stage where a lot of the senior guys are going to leave the team for some reason or other – mainly retirement.

“There'll be a lot of younger players. It would be nice to have a cricket experienced guy to come on who has played at international level who can help these guys and teach them what international cricket is all about.”

“Cricket is basic. You can think outside the box, you can do a number of things, but at the end of the day, cricket is a repetition sport. You can't reinvent the wheel with cricket.”

—Reuters