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Mickey Arthur needs autonomous rule

Roar Guru
15th February, 2012
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Mickey Arthur - new Australian cricket coach (Courtesy: Fox Sports)
Roar Guru
15th February, 2012
20
1013 Reads

Australian cricket is fast losing its appeal, and the heart of the problem is the ambiguous role of today’s coaches and selectors.

David Hussey’s ill-advised disclosure that he and his brother Mike don’t want to be rested or dropped has caused ripples.

It raises the question, who actually runs cricket and who runs the Australian cricket team?

It seems like there is no top-down structure. There are people from every level voicing an opinion. Everyone wants to be a selector. The captain has a lot of say, but blokes in the team can drop stories, rumours or leaks whenever they want.

There is a perception that the captain runs the show alone because the coaches are not in the middle during game time. But this is a fantasy of ‘experts’ such as Ian Chappell, who can’t stop talking about captains being selectors and running the game.

Frankly it’s baloney; the type of self-aggrandising one might expect from an ex-captain in the Channel Nine commentary box.

If I were the Australian coach, I would want to be the sole arbiter of who took the field. The governing body could be involved with naming an Australia- contracted squad, with my help, but if we went outside the squad to pick someone, he would have to be contracted too.

That would mean our initial 25 blokes had better be bloody right.

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Forget this business of recruiting selectors from the dim, distant past. If I am the coach, I want the autonomy to decide who plays, who gets left out, who bats where and who runs the drinks.

I want to be the king, but I am prepared for my head to end up on the chopping block. After all, that’s what I get paid for.

If I were Mickey Arthur I wouldn’t want four other blokes calling themselves selectors and deciding where and when my career might end. I wouldn’t want them calling my shots. I’d want my destiny in my own hands. I could consult anyone I liked, or keep to myself. That would be my prerogative. Again, that would be what I’m paid for.

The players who performed under my reign eye would obey my instructions, and mine only. Without respecting anybody, I still wouldn’t want Ian Chappell, Rod Marsh, my mother-in-law, James Sutherland, Michael Clarke, John Howard, Gina Rinehart, or any other Tom, Dick or Harry telling me who is going to play.

Am I going to play Davey Warner every game? Maybe not.

Am I going to drop Mike and Dave Hussey from time to time? You bet I am.

Am I going to talk to these guys about it? You bloody bet I will.

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If I were coach, I would decide who was in need of rest after consulting… whoever I want. I would not be bound by the opinions of external experts. Why? Because if I were the coach I would want to run the show.

Fire me if I have a bad season. Kick my butt right off the team. But don’t tell me who I can and can’t pick. That’s what I’m paid to do. This decision-making by whispers and committee has got to stop.

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