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James Sutherland lost a lot of respect by condoning the sacking of Simon Katich, which has left even the average cricket-lover breathless in disbelief. The 35 year-old opening batsman was a shock omission from the 25-strong elite contracted player’s squad, when he’s been one of the best baggy green batsmen over the last three years.
Sutherland has been the class CEO of Cricket Australia for the last decade, but supporting the disastrous national selection panel is the kiss of death; especially as Sutherland was one of those who selected the selectors, with Andrew Hilditch in the chair, Greg Chappell, David Boon, and Jamie Cox.
Hilditch is rightfully the one under the pump.
His reasons for flicking Katich were as puerile as his selections, but Hilditch is only the public tip of Cricket Australia’s iceberg of problems.
Not only has Cricket Australia administered over three Ashes losses in four, and selecting a panel that is too incompetent to select, but there are more Indians than chiefs in the national side.
There’s no argument the national team needs a manager, a doctor, a physio, and a trainer for obvious reasons as full-time professionals.
But four coaches?
Tim Nielsen’s the head coach, Justin Langer the batting coach, Troy Cooley the bowling coach, and until recently, former American baseballer Mike Young was the fielding coach, likely to be replaced by former Queensland keeper Wade Seccombe.
So Nielsen’s position is virtually superfluous, his quotes about as puerile as Hilditch – and he’s no John Buchanan, not by a long shot.
And it would be fair to say Langer, Cooley, and Young haven’t been too crash hot at their jobs, either, with runs and wickets at a premium and dropped catches on the rise.
So that’s the disorganised mayhem that has led to Katich’s sacking, prompting him to lash out in retaliation.
Good on him. It was a courageous thing for him to do. The selectors and administrators deserved every gobful he dished out.
“It was a ridiculous decision (to sack him), a case of part-time selectors. You pay peanuts, you get monkeys.
“Naming a 17-man squad prior to the last Ashes series had a destabilising influence on the team.
“In my opinion, if you can’t know what your best X1 is a week before the biggest Test series, that to me reeks of indecision.
“And we had 10 or 11 spinners over the last two to three years, another indication of the inconsistencies in selection.”
But what really set Katich off was Hilditch’s comment the selectors wanted to establish a new opening batting combination in preparation for the 2013 Ashes.
“That got me steaming because our opening partnership (with Shane Watson) has been one of the strong points of the team.
“As far back as I can remember the team has always been picked on trying to win the next Test match, obviously with an eye to the future, and that’s been the strength of Australian cricket.
“You pick the best 11 guys who are available.”
Now Simon Katich is not one of the best 25. Farcical.
He joins a growing list of well-performed Australian cricketers who have been sawn off before their time – Ian Healy, Mark Waugh, Dean Jones, Michael Slater, and Stuart Clark
Obviously iceberg problems start at the top, leaving Cricket Australia desperately in need of a clean out, and a restructure to keep pace with a chaotic international program, while Andrew Hilditch and Jamie Cox must be wiped out as selectors, and replaced by Darren Lehmann,and Geoff Lawson to join Greg Chappell and David Boon – all four as full-time professionals.
Then there will be light at the end of the tunnel.