Australia sack chief selector in revamp

Seven-month review exposes Hilditch and head coach Nielsen.

SYDNEY:

Australian chief selector Andrew Hilditch and coach Tim Nielsen were high-profile casualties of a sweeping review into Australian cricket investigating the team’s Ashes humiliation earlier this year.

The review and was ordered by Cricket Australia (CA) after the Test team’s defeat to England. Both men lost their jobs – with Nielsen asked to re-apply for his position – along with selector Greg Chappell, following the seven-month review headed by Australian businessman Don Argus.

“It is, to the best of my knowledge, the most exhaustive, comprehensive examination of Australian cricket ever undertaken,” said CA Chairman Jack Clarke who stressed that the review was not about looking for scapegoats but getting Australia back to the top of world cricket, which they dominated.

“This review is about looking to the future and what we need to do to improve,” he added. “In many ways we were victims of our own success.”

A new chairman of selectors will be appointed on a full-time basis.



Published in The Express Tribune, August 20^th, 2011.