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Cricket Australia stumbles from one major disaster to another – the latest, the appointment of Mickey Arthur as the national coach. The 43-year-old South African is a quality coach, no argument.
He took the Proteas from No 5 in the Test world rankings and 6th in the ODIs to No 1 in both during his watch from 2005 to 2010.
And in the process, Arthur became the first South African coach to beat Australia in Australia, and win the ODI tournament on the same tour as well.
Quality, alright.
But not at the expense of four Australians very capable of matching Arthur in every department, if not better: Steve Rixon, Tom Moody, Geoff Lawson, and Darren Lehmann.
* Rixon (57) also has a proven international record with New Zealand, as well as his home state of NSW, capturing multiple silverware. Currently the fielding coach of the Australian teams. But for how long?
* Moody (46) enjoyed success coaching Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2007, including reaching the 2007 World Cup final. He’s also coached his home state of Western Australia, and is currently an excellent television cricket commentator.
* Geoff Lawson (53) captained and coached his state NSW to silverware between 1988 and 1997, and coached the difficult Pakistanis from 2007 to 2008. Currently, he too is an excellent commentator on ABC radio and Fox.
* And Darren Lehmann (41) who is going gangbusters coaching Queensland, unbeaten so far this season. There would have been no problems appointing him Australian coach. Arthur has been “stolen” from Western Australia to get the job.
The decisions like Arthur have surfaced since the appointment of the independent Don Argus Review that has rattled Cricket Australia’s cage.
The Review was called when Cricket Australia obviously had no idea of how to stop the losing streak of the Test team. But the suggestions from Argus and his panel came from left field.
The worst: one full-time selector, two part-timers, plus the captain, and coach – a unwieldy panel of five.
Utter bollocks, totally untenable.
For the umpteenth time, selectors select, players play, and coaches coach. They never ever mix.
Sanity demands three full-time selectors to do the job properly, and only consult the captain and coach, neither of whom have any final say in the selections.
Left-field 2: the appointment of a general manager for the performances of the Australian teams. What a wafty title.
The new post is only answerable to James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia boss. But the selectors, captains, coach, and players of all formats are directly answerable to the GM.
So who does Cricket Australia appoint? A former Wallaby utility back in Pat Howard, who freely admitted he knew very little about cricket.
What the hell is going on? How is Howard going to advise, and lead, life-long cricketers when he knows stuff all about the sport at 38.
It’s an embarrassment.
Rod Marsh, Moody, and Lawson would have been far more qualified for the job. All three will have forgotten more about cricket than Howard will ever know.
But my pick would be Belinda Clark.
Belinda, an opening batswomen, is rightfully regarded as one of the greatest woman cricketers to ever play the sport.
Her record is outstanding:
* Played for Australia from 1991 to 2005.
* Captained the Australian team a record 101 times.
* Scored the most Test runs from 13 caps with 919 at 45.95 – and most ODI runs from 118 caps with 4,844 at 47.49.
* Was the first to crack a ODI double century (229*) of either gender.
* Scored the most runs in World Cups with 1,151 – winning in 1997 and 2005, runner-up in 2001.
* And was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame this year.
The clincher?
Belinda Clark was chief exec of Women’s Cricket Australia, and is currently the highly successful manager of the Australian Cricket Academy in Brisbane. Vast cricket and admin experience.
Belinda was the obvious choice for Howard’s job. But then the obvious escapes Cricket Australia’s vision.
Or was Belinda overlooked because she’s a woman? Either way it was another blunder; the second alternative totally unacceptable.
Which begs the question, what will be the next Cricket Australia disaster decision?
The track record suggests we won’t have to wait long.