Justin Langer is highly-qualified to be a national selector, but as national coach he should be ineligible.
As Mickey Arthur, and Darren Lehmann, should have been ineligible before him.
But ineligibility doesn’t stop there, as any others involved in Cricket Australia business like Greg Chappell as the national talent manager, and anyone in the media like Mark Waugh was for a couple of years, should also be ineligible.
Those appointments were the direct result of the flawed Don Argus Report in 2011 that was thrown together by Cricket Australia after Australia lost the 2010-2011 Ashes campaign at home for the first time since the 1986-1987 season.
Don Argus had just retired as chairman of giant company BHP Billiton, and his report was understandably heavily-laden with corporate thinking, but precious little cricket thinking.
Heading the flaws – the Australian captain and coach must be selectors, and there must be a high-performance director.
Justin Langer (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)
Michael Clarke had the foresight to pull out after a few weeks, as captaining the side and being a selector just didn’t work – it undermined his captaincy.
Just as selecting undermined Arthur, Lehmann, and now Langer, as coaches.
Langer would be the first to admit that since he took over in May, the Australians in all three formats have constantly under-achieved.
He also knows he has a full-time job lifting the standards, without the extra responsibility of selecting – so get on with his number one job.
Stand down.
Chappell should concentrate on looking for the cricketers of tomorrow, which he is very good at as expected of a legend.
That leaves chairman Trevor Hohns who has become part of the selection furniture from 1993 to 2006, and again from 2014 to current.
Australian selector Trevor Hohns (AAP Image/Gillian Ballard)
Enough is enough with too many mistakes are being made like the selection of quick Peter Siddle at 34 in the Test squad, and the continued selection of the under-performing Marsh brothers.
With Chris Tremain in the squad, two of the front-liners Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood would have to break down to give Siddle a run, so he’s superfluous.
It would be far more beneficial to Australia’s cricket future to give a young quick a taste of Test life behind the scenes, than have Siddle floating around doing nothing, except dropping a sitter at the MCG subbing for Cummins, and pulling Starc’s shorts down from behind while the big bloke was doing a live Fox interview.
So a clean-out of the selectors must be high on the agenda.
Ed Cowan’s always been high on my list of contenders that have been slashed with literally a battalion of commentators currently on Fox, Seven, and the ABC, who should be ineligible.
But only recently Cowan has come up with George Bailey, and Cameron White, as potential selectors – and that’s a top shelf suggestion.
All three have been around for a long time, know all the current players personally, plus their strengths, their weaknesses, and their potential from doing battle in the middle,
Just as importantly, the current players respect Bailey, White, and Cowan as one of their own, and would respect their selection decisions.
That’s hardly the case now with the current selectors.
Once Justin Langer stands down, and with Pat Howard at last gone as high-performance director, the majors flaws in the Argus Report will be rectified.
That leaves fixing the Cricket Australia Board, but it would be easier to break into Fort Knox.
Dan Ced
Roar Rookie
Nah he was just echoing Cowan's comments which mentioned White and Bailey, as they are still in the game but nearing the end. Perhaps they should be groomed as selectors, since they will be retired soon enough?
Dan Ced
Roar Rookie
I had this thought too, an XI objectively picked by all the state coaches. That would get you close to your best XI on merit.. but it doesn't account for the cohesion and effectiveness of the XI as a team, personalities etc. Sounds good on paper but wouldn't work.
johnno 2
Guest
Langer should have the ultimate control about the running and coaching and should be an influential voice in the selection of the 12, a consultant. The Captain should NOT be a the selector but perhaps a consultant too In my opinion CLARK was at the forefront of the current demise of Australian cricket ,especially regarding personel He ruined quite a number of cricket careers ,many of which I enjoyed watching as was with many cricket fans and was a discouragement to the flow of the new breed The worst overall captain Australia has ever had. If the selected players fail let it be on the heads of the Selectors not the coach trying to create a winning formula , especially in this period Learn from your obvious stupidity ACB
Harvey Wilson
Roar Rookie
For too long the team has been selected on favouritism rather than form. Did either Marsh brother really deserve 30+ tests based on their form? They were priviledged selections.
Richard Islip
Roar Rookie
Excellent
Nick
Roar Guru
I stand corrected. Ed Cowan has dropped dozens of notches in my book. It's a ridiculous suggestion. An expert should have torn it apart.
anon
Roar Pro
Langer shouldn't be selector or coach based on his record. He's won 6 out of 28 matches since taking over. But wait, 4 of those wins came in T20 games. But hold on. 2 of those T20 wins were against Zimbabwe and one against the UAE. So against legitimate cricketing nations, Langer has won 3 out of 25 games. Sure, losing Smith and Warner is big, but they only contribute an extra 30 runs to an innings. We haven't lost any bowlers. Let me explain. Smith averages 60. You replace with someone who can average 40. That's 20 run deficit. You replace 48 average Warner with someone who can average 38. That's a 10 run deficit. 20 + 10 = 30. When we lost Smith and Warner we weren't playing two men down. No, we just had to replace them with two players who weren't quite as good. Smith isn't that good at T20s and less effective at ODIs, so the impact of the suspensions is even less in the shorter form of the game. That 30 runs per innings deficit in Tests doesn't explain our uncompetitiveness. Langer must be held accountable for winning 3 out of 25 against cricketing nations since he took over.
Ken
Guest
I rate Justin Langer as one of our best openers ever, and I always admired his grit and determination. Sadly, though, his terms as Australian batting coach and now Head coach have shown he is not suited to either role. Our batting had more holes than a sieve when he was batting coach and no improvement was forthcoming. As coach/selector now, some of his pronouncements have been bewildering. "Don't want to reward poor performance" and then pick Marsh/Labaushagne et al and ignore Burns/Wade et al.
Pope Paul VII
Roar Rookie
Oh definitely but the brawl would be spectacular.
Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
Warne would keep S Marsh and drop Starc.
Ben
Roar Rookie
https://www.foxsports.com.au/cricket/australia/selectors-with-agendas-former-test-stars-radical-selection-overhaul/news-story/1ab7a8f673bcd31349d6b80d861397d8
Pope Paul VII
Roar Rookie
How about we have a panel of S R Waugh, Warne, Clarke and Katich?
Nick
Roar Guru
Attn Editors…would you mind asking David to please cite the following? “But only recently Cowan has come up with George Bailey, and Cameron White, as potential selectors – and that’s a top shelf suggestion.” This is surely fiction? The idea of 2 current players in a selection panel? Does anyone else demand transparency on this claim? When did Cohen say this? Experts have to better than this.
Nick
Roar Guru
— COMMENT DELETED —
Nick
Roar Guru
yes, I don't quite think David thought it through...asking George Bailey and Cameron White who are still contracted players to be selectors. I'm fairly sure he forgot to do his research (as per norm) and just assumed they had retired. he's also making it up that these people have recently been discussed as potential selectors. I read a lot of the journalism, and listen to a lot of commentary/punditry...I've not heard it. Most sane and sensible people wouldn't raise the idea of current players as selectors.
Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
Kudos for figuring out how to use the word "defenestrate" on this site...LOL
Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
Sure - but I'm only talking a week's delay, not any reduction in the number of games. Although I reckon the increase in games this season will prove to be a mistake.
Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
Nope - sometimes a selection could appear a gamble. And sometimes those gambles take a while to pay off. Steve Waugh was a classic example of that. Took him ages to come good. I reckon in this day and age the social media knives would have been out for him before his performances warranted his selection!
Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
Um, you've contradicted yourself here... First sentence: "I'm not talking about a state bias..." Last sentence: "each state rep would be expected to have a state bias.."
Leigh
Guest
"Chappell should concentrate on looking for the cricketers of tomorrow, which he is very good at as expected of a legend." Can I ask on what basis or evidence you're making this claim? I would think that ice is very very think after the past decade...