Coach, selectors face post-Ashes scrutiny

Cricket Australia come under intense scrutiny following Australia’s humiliating 3-1 Ashes series defeat.

SYDNEY: The future of embattled coach Tim Nielsen will be among a range of issues discussed by Australian cricket chiefs as they demand answers for their disastrous Ashes campaign.

Nielsen’s input, along with Cricket Australia (CA) management and team selections, have come under intense scrutiny following Australia’s humiliating 3-1 Ashes series defeat. The CA board will meet in Melbourne on February 8 and according to one unnamed official, will seek answers from its management and coaches on Australia’s dramatic slide from first to fifth in the Test rankings within two years.

Nielsen is under pressure, having presided over two Ashes defeats, two Test series defeats in India and Australia’s first series defeat against South Africa at home. “If contracts need to be paid out to get the right outcome, then so be it,” one unnamed high-ranking official told the Sun-Herald.

Nielsen said he expected his position to be debated after the Sydney Test defeat. “I expect us all to be looked at, and talked to, in the review,” said Nielsen.

The downfall of Nathan Hauritz and the handling of Doug Bollinger continue to rankle in some circles, while the future of Phillip Hughes, and his unconventional technique, have also been questioned.

Hilditch, whose contract expires after the World Cup, faces a fight to stay on while there is strong support for CA’s first full-time selector Greg Chappell to take over. Former Test captain Ian Chappell said CA had to overhaul. “After losing three Tests to England, the Australian cricket team is like a lift on the bottom floor – it only has one way to go,” Chappell told the Sunday Telegraph. “It’s time to return to doing the things that produce good, strong-minded cricketers.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10^th, 2011.