Ponting lauds outgoing coach

Australian captain Ricky Ponting has praised retiring coach John Buchanan and credited him with the teams success over the years. Buchanan, will today oversee his last match at helm of the Australian side.

“They (Buchanan and support staff) have to accept some of the accolades that come the team’s way,” he said.

“You look at the standard of cricket that we’ve been able to play over a long period of time.

“Just before John took over and certainly right through his stint as coach we’ve played some amazing cricket.

“Even this current run, we’ve won 11 matches on the trot. That doesn’t happen every day either.

“The coach has got to take a lot of the credit for that.

“He’s been coaching a very skilled and very talented team. What you’ve seen some of those players do has been a lot of the time pretty extraordinary, so he’s got to take a lot of the credit for that.”

Justin Langer also took time out of his retirement press conference to honour his longtime coach.

“I’ve learned so much from John Buchanan,” he said.

“He’s an outstanding person and an outstanding coach. His vision was monumental in the success we’ve had over the last few years.”

Buchanan, 53, started the job in 1999 and has presided 89 Tests. He will retire along side Australian greats Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne and Justin Langer after the final Ashes Test in Sydney.

Current Sri Lankan coach Tom Moody and Tim Nielsen, the head of the centre of excellence in Australia, are favourites to replace Buchanan.