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Aussie cricket legends lining up for selectors gig

Steve Waugh owns an all-time classic Ashes moment. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
17th October, 2016
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Two of Australian cricket’s most respected former players are reportedly eyeing off the soon-to-be vacated position on the country’s selection board.

Following Rod Marsh’s announcement that he will step down as Australia’s chairman of selectors, former star players Steve Waugh and Jason Gillespie have been touted as possible replacements.

After a tremendously successful five-year stint in England coaching county side Yorkshire, Gillespie said he was considering sticking his hand up to take over from Marsh.

“There is a national selectors job up next year and I might put my name up for that,” Gillespie said.

“All I have done the last five years is select teams for Yorkshire.

“I wouldn’t rule anything out. If there are opportunities, I will look at it.”

The former fast bowler won back-to-back county titles with Yorkshire during his time in England, and will take the reins of the Adelaide Strikers in this year’s Big Bash for the second season in a row.

In his first year at the helm of the Adelaide side last season, Gillespie coached the side to the minor premiership, only to see the Strikers bundled out of the finals by eventual champions the Sydney Thunder.

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Gillespie was previously a contender to replace Craig McDermott as Australia’s bowling coach – a role eventually taken by David Saker – and has been touted as a possible future coach of Australia.

Gillespie’s former captain Waugh has also said he’d consider taking the role at the head of Australia’s selection board.

“I’d listen to it if the opportunity came up, but there are a lot of things you’ve got to throw into the mix and see whether it’s the right time,” Waugh told the Sydney Morning Herald.

“I think there are a lot of good cricket brains in Australia. No one has asked me, but I’d listen to it.”

If the former Test skipper was to join the selection panel, he’d be the second Waugh to join the board. His twin brother, Mark, has been a national selector since 2014.

Steve’s openness towards the role marks something of a change in attitude for the former captain. While Waugh has remained one of the more respected voices in Australian cricket – he was on the Argus review panel in 2011 – he has rarely involved himself with the national team since retiring.

Both Waugh and Gillespie were critical members of Australia’s all-conquering Test team of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Waugh captained Australia in 57 Tests, 41 of which he won, and scored 10,927 runs in his 168 matches.

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Gillespie’s career was curtailed by a series of injuries following his debut in 1996-97, but he still managed to pick up 259 wickets (and score a famous unbeaten double-century against Bangladesh) in a 71-Test career.

Marsh will vacate the chairman of selectors role at the end of June next year, with his replacement expected to be named well before then.

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