1 Jan 2009

Buchanan says Cricket Australia needs to change

5:49 am on 1 January 2009

The former Australian cricket coach John Buchanan believes Australia is suffering from "systemic" problems but sees a major upside to the dramatic slide.

Buchanan says series losses to India and South Africa has delivered a "fantastic opportunity" for a complete system overhaul that has been long warranted.

The man who twice took the world champions to record Test match winning streaks revealed serious problems have been ignored which have led to the current doldrums.

Buchanan says it's too simplistic to blame a transitional period following the retirements of modern greats Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Adam Gilchrist as well as the losses of other stalwarts such as Jason Gillespie, Justin Langer, Stuart MacGill and Damien Martyn.

Buchanan has been unhappy with the level of negativity surrounding the Australia's performances and is reluctant to speak in specifics about the problems in the game around the country, but he says he tried to have several issues fixed while he was in charge from 1999-2007.

Buchanan admitted development, coaching and talent identification were just small pieces of a big, complex puzzle but were among areas needed to be improved.

Buchanan says Cricket Australia, which appears to have rested on the laurels of its team's great successes over 13 years on top of the world, needed to be committed to a review which may only result in a long-term turnaround.