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A pattern has emerged between the last three Australian chairmen of cricket selectors, Trevor Hohns, Andrew Hilditch, and John Inverarity.
All three were ordinary Test cricketers, to become ordinary chairmen, making ordinary decisions.
Yesterday was the latest when Inverarity tried to explain why Ricky Ponting has been recalled as ODI skipper, with incumbent Michael Clarke sidelined by a hamstring tear.
The 25-year-old David Warner is the vice-captain, but he was overlooked as the panel dug into the past, instead of having vision for the future.
Said Inverarity: “David Warner is a young player making his way. He displays considerable leadership potential, but the panel is of the view that he should not, at the moment, have the added responsibility of captaincy.
“David has been gaining valuable experience under Michael Clarke, and now will have the opportunity to grow his leadership as vice-captain to Ricky Ponting”.
Where the panel lost the initial chance was appointing George Bailey on international debut as Twenty20 captain over Warner.
Boring negative thinking, but in keeping with the pattern.
Former Test skipper Steve Waugh never had a negative thought in his career, that’s why he had a 71.9% win-rate in the five-day game, and 63.2% in ODIs.
Yesterday he slammed the Ponting decision as retrograde, and supported Warner as skipper. That was the positive outlook.
And it was a positive outlook that greeted the Argus Review, until it suggested a five-man panel including the captain and coach.
Bad call, bad result.
Apart from the Warner snub, two serious communication lapses underline what is amiss with this panel. And the buck stops with Inverarity.
To this day, all-rounder Shane Watson hasn’t been officially notified he is the vice-captain of the Test, ODI, and Twenty20 sides. It matters not he hasn’t struck a blow in all three through a calf injury, but he should have been advised of his triple appointments.
Keeper Brad Haddin was told he was to be rested from the ODI squad for three games. Those games are gone and Haddin still isn’t back in the squad as he prepares for the NSW-Western Australia clash at the WACA as the alternative.
There was an opportunity to recall Haddin as promised for next Friday’s ODI against Sri Lanka at the SCG and install him as skipper. After all, he was vice-captain to Clarke in the four-Test series against India.
It didn’t happen, and if I was Haddin I wouldn’t count on retaining the Test berth for the West Indies in April. This panel doesn’t stick to its word.
So it’s a pity we can’t time-freeze the last three selection panel appointments.
If David Boon was the chairman in the Hohns-Hilditch era, and Rodney Marsh was chairman now, it would be a whole new ball game.
Two knockabout good blokes who were class cricketers, both charismatic, revered by their peers and fans, and excellent communicators.
Hohns, Hilditch, and Inverarity don’t qualify for any of those assets.
Had Boon and Marsh been in the big chair, there would have been none of this negative rubbish, and every potential rep player would know exactly where he stood. Boon and Marsh would see to that personally.
That’s their nature.
As a result, the ordinary, ordinary, ordinary pattern would never have surfaced and 16 years of yawning hard-to-fathom selections could have been avoided.
If only.