Australian players back Buchanan

The Australian cricketers have come out in support of John Buchanan, the Australian coach, amid criticism by Shane Warne, who questioned his relevance to the team.

The Sun, a British tabloid, quoted Warne this month as saying Buchanan deserved few plaudits for Australia's domination. He also reportedly suggested the team didn't need a coach at all. Warne claimed his comments were taken out of context, but audio of a press conference posted on the BBC website last week left no doubt Warne did say Buchanan "over-complicates issues" and has sometimes "lacked a little bit of commonsense".

Warne's former Victorian and Australian team-mate Damien Fleming said Warne valued coaches, and noted that Terry Jenner has been Warne's mentor for two decades. "Warney has been saying what he thinks about coaches but he's got a very important mentor in Terry Jenner," Fleming told The Australian newspaper. "Coaches and mentors are very important, don't worry about that, whether it is for a team or individual."

Adam Gilchrist, who is resting from the limited-overs tournament in Malaysia, had no doubt that Buchanan has made an enormous impact on the team during his seven-year reign. "Some of his methods did confuse some players and I'm sure there are players over time who haven't taken well to the way he works and that's fine - we're all different people," he told the newspaper. "I understand that some people might be uncertain about his philosophies but my overriding perception is that as a cricket coach and man manager his overall goal is to better his players as people. With that will come being better cricketers."

Justin Langer, the Australian opening batsman, said Buchanan had laid the ground work for Australia's remarkable success as a Test and one-day team. "His greatest strength is his vision and his courage to plant the seed of achievement in a very talented side," Langer said. "It's easy to go through the motions but one thing that inspires very good players and successful people is to keep trying to extend them all the time."

A selection process is underway for a new coach after Buchanan announced last month that he is standing down from the job after next year's World Cup in the West Indies.