Cricket Australia insist marketing has absolutely nothing to do with a likely Test squad announcement on Monday.
CA cited logistics as the logic behind the date, as it seeks to get the likes of Mitchell Johnson fit for December 4 when a four-Test series against India starts at the Gabba.
National selectors will meet in Sydney on the weekend to settle on the squad that will assemble in Brisbane on Friday for the series opener.
Mark Waugh, added to the selection panel earlier this year, suggested on Fox Sports that he would have preferred to pick a squad after next week’s Sheffield Shield games.
“But that’s not a decision the selectors have made,” Waugh said.
“Cricket Australia have made that. It’s for marketing purposes.”
But CA team performance manager Pat Howard says Waugh admitted he got it wrong on Friday, and Australia are following the same model that led to a 5-0 Ashes thumping of England.
Waugh’s words triggered memories of the preliminary 17-man squad named before the 2010-11 Ashes series, when players reluctantly fronted a gala event pushed upon them by CA.
“I think we moved well past that,” CA chief executive James Sutherland said.
“That’s just not right (to say marketing reasons governed the timing of the squad announcement).”
Johnson, Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle were all rested from the final round of Shield games last year, setting the platform for the trio to play all five Tests against England.
CA is desperate to again manage the minutiae when it comes to preparing the pacemen enlisted for Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.
The next round of Shield games starts on Tuesday, with CA wanting to finalise a Test squad before then so it can confirm who needs to be rested or restricted to light duties.
However, Howard noted on Friday that “if the selectors feel they need more time to select the squad, that option is always there”.
Sutherland added that CA always gives selectors “the flexibility of naming a squad of whatever size they might need”.
Responding to suggestions that players on the cusp of the Test squad deserve another first-class fixture to impress, Howard said Rod Marsh and his colleagues would not be swayed by one game.
“The selectors look for consistent performances over a period of time and particularly strong performances in pressure situations,” Howard said.
Michael Clarke’s selection or non-selection will be one of the major talking points of the squad, with the captain already ruled out of next week’s Shield game for NSW due to his hamstring injury.
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.
Marcus Stoinis produced his first IPL century and it was a beauty. He went 6, 4, 4, 4 to finish off the Lucknow Super…
Xavier Bartlett has been permission to extend his cricketing education with a spell of T20s in England, playing in the Blast competition for Kent…
Three-Test spinner Matthew Kuhnemann has signed with Tasmania in a bid for red-ball game time ahead of Australia's tour of Sri Lanka next summer.…
Last week, you read about the Matt XI, a compilation of the best cricketers ever to represent the name Matt. And to be fair,…
The Aussie needed every centimetre of his height and reach to reel that one in!
Royal Challengers Bengaluru needed 21 off the final over...but after three sixes, a caught and bowled and a run out, Mitchell Starc's Kolkata had…
