Using walkie-talkie during match ok: Buchanan

Australian cricket coach John Buchanan, who was seen using a walkie-talkie alongside the boundary during the tri-series match against New Zealand on Sunday, has defended his action, saying he was only communicating with his coaching staff.

“I don’t think it’s anything like (former South African captain) Hansie Cronje and Bob Woolmer,” Buchanan said. “That was the captain and the coach discussing how the game would be enacted as it went along, so I don’t see it as anything like that,” he was quoted as saying by the Australian Associated Press today.

Woolmer, as coach of South Africa, had caused much uproar for his use of the communication system with the captain during the course of a match, following which the ICC banned its use.

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Channel Nine commentator Ian Healy highlighted Buchanan’s chat at the WACA Ground at Perth where Australia’s fielding coach Mike Young received messages from the coach, who was in the change rooms above.

Buchanan said it was vital to have immediate communication between the head coach and various coaching and medical staff around the ground.