Bowling coach Troy Cooley was appointed interim head coach on Tuesday for Australia`s tour of South Africa next month.

Tim Nielsen quit last week after Australia`s 1-0 Test series win in Sri Lanka, leaving little time for a permanent head coach to be recruited.

Cricket Australia said in a statement that Cooley, head coach at the national Centre of Excellence and an assistant coach with the top team, has agreed to take on the caretaker role but would not be applying for the full-time job.

Cooley, who played 33 first-class matches with Tasmania state, had success as England bowling coach in the 2005 Ashes series win before returning to Australia as bowling coach in 2006. He has been assistant coach with the national team for the last two years.

In 2009, Cooley filled in as head coach for the last three ODI`s of Australia`s 6-1 series victory over England in England. Cooley also coached Australia A on its tour of Zimbabwe in July.

"Troy has filled this role successfully in the past, and has worked extensively with all players within the Australian set up and with our younger squad members at CA`s (Centre of Excellence)," CA general manager Michael Brown said.

Cooley, 45, said he felt comfortable coming into the "caretakers role."

"My working knowledge of the Australian team and our opposition will no doubt be an asset in the short term as we look to build on the successful tour of Sri Lanka," he said. "My role is to ensure all players have what they need to prepare for the tour and to oversee the support staff to ensure the best possible results."

Cooley will also be an acting national selector for the Twenty20 and ODI squads announced later this week.

CA is in the process of recruiting a high performance general manager, as well as a new full-time national selector and two part-time selectors in the wake of an exhaustive review of the state of Australian cricket on and off the field spearheaded by a respected group of former test captains.

Once appointed, the new general manager for team performance will be involved in the recruitment of a new head coach.