Comments on: Are the Australian cricket selectors value for money?

By: Tommy Smith

Tommy Smith — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:54:52 +0000

I always thought that the old method of selection on away tours was the most effective – the skipper, the vice-captain and the tour manager would decide the XI amongst themselves. Surely there is no one with greater insight into the balance of the side, the areas of strength and deficiency, than the captain and his assistant, with the tour manager adding a degree of objectivity. Although this would raise the question of impartiality, as Spiro points out, Jamie Cox being SA’s high performance manager must surely raise eyebrows with regard to the same issue. I’m in total agreement over distractions, also – however the captain, vice, and manager engage with every delivery of every match by virtue of their roles within the team. Maybe this system is not ideal, but an improvement, in my opinion.

By: Green n Gold 2010

Green n Gold 2010 — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 22:40:24 +0000

YES YES YES!!!!

I say yes…….must be high but perhaps after seeing Aussies get knocked off their thrones on Friday!!!!

hahahahaha…more mediore performances please

By: Sluggy

Sluggy — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 03:55:20 +0000

“Or should [the duty selector] be devoting his main energies to acting with the captain and the coach to work out tactics, strategies and team selections? It’s pretty obvious what the answer to this question should be.”

Not sure he should be – while there is an overlap between selections and game plans, the selector should leave the coaching to the coach, same thing for on field tactics and the captain. Too many cooks, and a loss of detachment caused by getting too close to the senior players that will make the hard decisions even harder.

By: sheek

sheek — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 22:47:55 +0000

Spiro,

Selectors are so poorly thought of, I couldn’t find anywhere, not even Wikipedia or the official CA site, a list of Australian cricket selectors through history.

I wanted to know the selectors under Lawrie Sawle around the late 80s-early 90s. These guys played a crucial part in first lifting the standard of Australian cricket with wise selections, then nurturing them as they developed.

I believe the other selectors were John Benaud, Greg Chappell & Jim Higgs. They picked Ian Healy after just 4-5 first class games (including a Shield final) & took an educated punt on Shane Warne. On the other hand, when they showed geoff marsh the door, Allan Border went ballistic in defence of his vice-captain.

You just can’t win as a selector.

The much maligned Trevor Hohns carried on the good work as chairman of selectors after Sawle. Interesting how some of the best selectors were fair to average cricketers themselves. They innately understand the meaning of struggle for example.

The current group of selectors don’t strike me an overly perceptive bunch. Merv Hughes is a terrific bloke, but I don’t know if he has deep thinking in his blood! But then again, maybe that’s a good thing. Andrew Hilditch is perhaps over-analytical.

But then again, they’ve been let down by their senior players. They took the punt to give some of them time to find form, but it just didn’t happen. Which only made the selectors look even sillier. Who would want the job???

By: Rickety Knees

Rickety Knees — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 23:29:16 +0000

Absolutely agree Spiro – as stated in a previous post – Australian Cricket has lost its way and that starts right at the top with the Chairman – Jack Clarke.