Buchanan was in charge as Australia won a record 16 straight Tests

The 53-year-old, who took over from Geoff Marsh in 1999, wants to spend more time with his family but plans to stay involved with Cricket Australia.

"There's a shelf life in coaching and I believe that after the World Cup will be the appropriate time to hand over the reins to someone new," he said.

Buchanan has guided Australia to 24 Test series wins and only two defeats.

But one of those losses came in last year's Ashes series in England and he is keen to avenge that on home soil this winter before giving up the job.

Australia have a hectic schedule over the next few months with a triangular one-day series against India and West Indies and Singapore to be followed by the ICC Champions Trophy, the Ashes and one-day VB Series on home soil, and finally the World Cup in the Caribbean next March.

"I am extremely excited about the challenges ...we are playing three huge tournaments in a brief period of time with a view to winning them all," said Buchanan.

Who's next

When he does step down, Australia will not be short of candidates from whom to choose a replacement.

Tom Moody, Greg Chappell, Dav Whatmore and Bennett King are currently in charge of the Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India and West Indies national teams.

The best manager of people I have worked under Australia skipper Ricky Ponting on Buchanan

And they could also consider Tim Nielsen, who is currently in charge of Australia's Centre of Excellence.

Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said they would start the search for a new coach at a management committee meeting next month.

He praised Buchanan for the "extraordinary success" achieved by the team in recent years.

"Since taking on the role as coach, Australia has played 267 international matches and won approximately 75% of these games.

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Among their achievements was a world record run of 16 successive Test wins, which finally came to an end in India in 2001, when they suffered their first series defeat with him in charge.

"This is a record that cannot be matched by any other international side and is a testament to the role John has played with the team," he said.

In the same period, South Africa have the next best winning percentage of 55.04% in all forms of the game.

Coaching methods

Buchanan was appointed by Australia after a successful period in charge of the Queensland state side.

He is renowned as a highly original thinker about the game and was among the first to use detailed video analysis as part of his method for preparing the team.

During the 2001 Ashes tour to England, he drew on the teachings of Chinese warlord Sun Tzu to try and inspire the team.

Players have also been encouraged to give talks on subjects ranging from wrestler Hulk Hogan to the Bee Gees to improve their confidence.

And Buchanan even went as far as employing the "close-eyed technique", in which players bat and catch with their eyes shut.