 Ricky Ponting and John Buchanan celebrate World Cup glory |
Amid the retirements of some of the finest cricketers Australia has ever produced, the departure of coach John Buchanan was almost lost in the moment.
With Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and others leaving the scene - and Australia winning an unprecedented third consecutive World Cup - the significant exit of the mastermind of Australia's modern-day success was largely overlooked.
Buchanan, who now plans to transfer his skills to the business world, is statistically the best coach Australia has ever had.
But the 2005 Ashes loss to England threatened to undermine his legacy.
Then came Australia's whirlwind run of success which yielded the Champions Trophy, the Ashes whitewash and a third consecutive World Cup all in the space of seven months.
"There was some heat on us but I've never been a person driven by results," he told BBC Sport.
"It's fantastic to get them and ultimately they keep you in a job, but for me it is about dealing with the process.
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"If I can get that right, and if I can instil that mentality into my team, then we are in the best position to achieve our goals.
"Before my first Test as coach, I talked with Steve Waugh about scaling Everest one day, whatever that may have been, and all of us making that journey together."
Leaked memos, vocabulary lessons and the teachings of Chinese warlord Sun Tzu were all part of his repertoire, but Buchanan never saw his methods as radical.
"Life experience, inside and outside of sport, has shaped me the most," he said.
"My life as a sportsman, my life with my parents and other people in my life - how I was coached, and continue to be coached, is very much a part of how I coach.
"I guess there has been no singular influence, but I have always drawn on my own experiences and tried to be open to new ideas to develop my own philosophies and principles."
Buchanan said he learnt a lot from his brief and unsuccessful stint as Middlesex coach, both about English cricket and about himself.
"I made a few mistakes and learnt a lot about dealing with different organisations, and they re-emphasized the differences in sporting cultures," he said.
"But it opened my eyes to the English system and made me see why England find it difficult to field competitive sides consistently.
| There's no doubt that they play too much cricket, and that promotes mediocrity Buchanan on the county system |
"The talent and the numbers are there, but the county system is a real anchor on the players. There's no doubt that they play too much cricket, and that promotes mediocrity."
Buchanan looks back at the 2005 Ashes loss as a kick in the pants for Australia, and one that motivated them to great heights.
"We were playing an England side that wasn't typically English: they wanted to be in our face, they wanted to be like Australia, they wanted to be aggressive. They took it to us and in the end we just didn't respond," he said.
"But the bottom line is, we came away from that series looking at ourselves and asking what was happening. We set about addressing what was wrong as quickly as we could."
Now, with cricket conquered, Buchanan feels happy handing over the reigns to new coach Tim Nielsen, and taking on a new and different challenge.
"I hope I've created an environment that will facilitate the ongoing development of the national team. I'm proud of the fact that I have left behind a solid foundation for Tim to build on," he said.
"I want to take the lessons I've learned in life and in sport and transfer them across into business.
"Seeing whether I can assist businesses and CEOs with the knowledge I've picked up in cricket is something I'm keen on doing."
The corporate world's gain is Australian cricket's loss.
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