Pat Cummins and Andrew McDonald are set to lead Australia into the national team’s next “mega year” in 2027 after the head coach reached terms with Cricket Australia to extend his tenure until the end of that year.

McDonald’s decision also means he and Cummins have taken responsibility for managing the transition of an ageing team with younger blood such as Sam Konstas and Nathan McSweeney in coming years. Cummins and McDonald agreed to the contract extension last week.

Speaking to this masthead, Cummins had previously indicated that he was open to leading the team in Test matches and major white ball tournaments until 2027, which will feature Test tours of India and England plus the next 50-over World Cup.

But he wanted McDonald alongside him to continue their successful coach and captain tandem that began with a drought-breaking series win in Pakistan in 2022.

McDonald, in turn, wanted to ensure he had a strong support team around him, with assistant coaches including Michael Di Venuto, Dan Vettori and Andre Borovec coming off contract at the end of this season.

McDonald became head coach after a drawn out saga around the exit of Justin Langer, who resigned after being offered a short-term contract extension for six months, rather than the two years his predecessor now has.

“Andrew has proven to be an outstanding men’s head coach who as well as delivering exceptional results has built a strong coaching team, methodology and an excellent environment for the team to perform at its best,” CA’s chief executive Nick Hockley said. “We are delighted to extend his tenure for a further two years.”

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For McDonald, the contract extension underlines his impact in creating a calm and measured environment around the Australian team, which has demonstrated an ability to withstand pressures on the road and to lift major trophies. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy, held by India since 2017, is the one major garland the team has not lifted since he joined the setup as an assistant to Langer in 2019.