Former England head coach Trevor Bayliss has reportedly held talks about potentially replacing Justin Langer as Australia head coach.
Langer resigned in February following Australia's 4-0 Ashes victory, citing a lack of support from senior players, support staff and the board as the reason behind his decision. And according to a report in the Guardian, Bayliss has spoken to Cricket Australia about the vacancy.
The report states that 'discussions with CA took place last week', with Bayliss said to be 'popular' among the current Australia squad. Andrew McDonald, who took interim charge of the side on their recent tour of Pakistan, has also held talks about taking the job permanently.
Test captain Pat Cummins gave McDonald a ringing endorsement following his side's series victory over Pakistan, saying: "He's fantastic. Very diligent, very thorough, strategic, very organised. He's a huge part of this tour win... and all the support staff.
"It's not just the players that walk out, we have got a squad of 30-odd people working so hard. He has been an important part. It's not my place to appoint the coach, but he has been fantastic."
The report also suggests that Cricket Australia could split the head coach role between red and white ball cricket, something McDonald hinted at earlier this month when he said he had been given "no great detail or clarity" on the specifics of the job yet.
"I have spoken to people at Cricket Australia now, obviously the contested Test series didn’t allow that [before] but with a few more gaps amongst this one day series I have had the opportunity to speak to Cricket Australia," he said.
"Whether that becomes a follow-up conversation we will wait and see, it will be pretty much like the other people that have no doubt spoken to Cricket Australia as well. There was no great detail or clarity on what the role would look like, that's probably something that will be built in the next few steps, however many steps there are to the process.
"Do I want the job? It depends on what it looks like, how Cricket Australia see the job unfolding and I will probably get more detail and clarity moving forward."
