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.
amazonfan
Guest
The problem is that the wealthier nations would simply buy up the best players. You would have a situation where the next Brian Lara or Murali play for Australia or India instead of the Windies or Sri Lanka. I personally think that would be dreadful, and someone who has the Windies as one of my favourite sporting teams, I would hate it if they were gutted by Australia and other superpowers. Anyway, the only other option would be to implement a salary cap & draft, however with international sport, it's just too difficult.
zenboomerang
Guest
You obviously have no understanding on the job description/role of a 'team performance manager'... Would you put a football coach as your teams business & finance manager?... It is not a coaching job and knowing the intricacies of playing cricket on the field is not part of the job... Read up on the job description before making useless comments... Howard has already successfully performed this job at an elite level and at a national level...
Happy Hooker
Guest
David, you cannot discriminate on the basis of race or nationality. CA cannot decide that the coaches are all as good as each other, then rule out Arthur because he is South African.
amazonfan
Guest
But why should we accept someone who is 'good enough'? Our various codes should hire the best, and if that means they hire people from overseas, then so be it. Where they come from should be of absolute no relevance whatsoever.
amazonfan
Guest
Wow, I actually (and completely) agree with you. :D
Duncan
Guest
I agree about jobs for the boys, but I wait with baited breath to see how will this change as long as Clarke has a say on the selection panel. His support of Johnson has been somewhat understandable but mostly disappointing and misguided.
The Other White Wendell
Guest
please explain
dc
Guest
Yep good call to appoint Mick Arthur, no allegiances to any state or leading lights in the game...lets hope he executes a clean out... and can he get Pup to say batsmen, not batters?
yewonk
Guest
and your right it does seem he is being unfairly treated given the fact he is not anglo australian.
yewonk
Guest
when are they going to fire langer? what is his record of sucess. I the sight of a seemingly arrogant andrew hilditch saying he had done a good job is enough after the last ashes tells me they had all lost the plot.
Rhys
Guest
Well said Johnno. My sentiments exactly.
Brian
Guest
Don't know about never have you heard of Marcos Senna who played in Euro 2008. Unlike cricket generally in football the very best managers coach at club level - since this is what is played for 10 months of the year. If Mourinho made himself availalbe to all the above 5 jobs I would be surprised if he did not get one.
amazonfan
Guest
:D
Brian
Guest
Fleming was a brilliant captain. From memory he almost captained New Zealand to a series win in Australia one summer, with NZ of all teams. Since he was an intelligent captain one would think he would make a good coach
WoobliesFan
Guest
If this story is true, then I wonder how the prima-donna boys club is going to cope.
BigAl
Guest
I think you mean David will have something NEW to whinge and whine about ...
WoobliesFan
Guest
Bulldust. David Lord is right - the GM position is a w*nk....we dominated world cricket for over 15 years without it ......and then, to fill it with a person, who by your own admission, "loves" the game, as opposed to players of the calibre of Lawson and Moody, who had solid careers as players, but also coached major national sides, well, even blind freddy can see the Pat Howard appointment reeks of poliitcal bile and repugnant logic. Say goodbye to the Ashes.....they've already been lost with this mob. You read it here first.
Atawhai Drive
Roar Guru
VC, it's actually four Anglo-Africans coaching major international cricket teams _ Flower, Kirsten, Arthur and Duncan Fletcher. Not sure if quality boarding schools have anything to do with it.
zenboomerang
Guest
Agree Hansie... WA has been near the bottom of SS for years... Mickey has brought out the best in the team & consolidated that with some new faces who are proving his coaching and decision making have been right...
zenboomerang
Guest
"Great story"... lol... you have to be joking... this is an immature & illogical story with few facts... Mickey Arthur has form on the board coaching a 'top 4' national cricket team that he took to the top as no.1 in both Test & ODI... and is a current State coach is performing very well in his second season. Rixon coached NZ and did an average job without improving either their playing group or international rankings... Lawson & Moody are commentators... lol... maybe we should have picked Drew Morphett... Boof Lehmann... yes doing a very good job in his first full season as a coach... still a bit green and needs time to polish up his skill set... might make a reasonable replacement in 5-10 years... Lords lack of knowledge about cricket is astounding... all coaches & captains want to have input into who is picked for the next match... they are on the front line and know directly how players are performing both on the field and during practice sessions... One full time selector is more than enough, as long as the person has the full skill set, as Inverarity has... with only 6 State teams there are only a limited number of players who are likely to be pushing for selection above those already in the '15'... at most 5-8 batters and 6-10 bowlers... what would 2 more full time selectors accomplish... nothing but replicating what the first is doing... While fully respecting Belinda Clark, Lords comment is disingenuous to her and cricket as a whole. Howard does have a good knowledge of cricket (better than Lord) and has loved the game since his childhood. Also Howard has already performed in this role at international level with success... just as the Argus review said, CA needs to bring in known performers at an elite level. It also seems that Lord has no idea of the role of this position as his of knowledge is shown up by poorly thought out comments...