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The appointment of Greg Chappell to an interim position on Australia’s selection panel is curious, given his history with the domestic game.

Daniel Brettig17-Nov-20163:48

Is bringing back Greg Chappell a good move for Australia?

Players around the country are shaking their heads at the appointment of Greg Chappell as an interim selector, five years after the Argus review removed him from the same position. They have a right to do so.While it is understandable that Cricket Australia’s board of directors found an internal candidate for this interim role, Chappell’s decidedly mixed history with domestic cricket in particular makes it at best a curious call, at worst a further indication all is not well among the decision-makers at the top of the game down under.Chappell was the prime architect of the Futures League, a development brainstorm devised to end the “clogging up of the system” perceived to have been created when the Sheffield Shield became more or less fully professional with the improvement of player wages in 1998.The Futures League replaced the second XI competition, restricting teams to playing no more than three players over the age of 23 in any team, while also adding experimental playing regulations like first innings limited to 96 overs, scrapping the availability of the second new ball, and offering extra points for wickets taken by spin bowlers. Matches were played over three days instead of four.It was a Rubicon moment, where the players started to feel that the Sheffield Shield was being devalued because the next tier down from what was thought to be the world’s premier domestic competition had been stripped back to being an under-age tournament.In particular, the over restrictions and reduction in game time from four days to three were devised to “encourage attacking cricket” but they effectively reduced opportunities for batsmen to spend time in the middle. That change in particular now looks to have been ruinous, given the current paucity of players cut out to bat all day.The whole concept was skewered in the pages of the Argus review:

“The panel understands that the Futures League was designed to fill a perceived gap in the pathway for players aged 19-23 (i.e. between U19s and State/State 2nd XI cricket). Last season Futures League was therefore a 6 round competition with 3-day games, and permitted teams only 3 players of 23 years of age or over. Second XI matches occurred on an ad hoc basis.”However feedback about the Futures League age restrictions was very strongly negative, both in relation to the standard of the competition and its effect on Grade cricket. The panel’s preference, therefore, is that the Futures League revert to a 2nd XI competition.”

The same document effectively led to Chappell’s dismissal as a member of the national selection panel, as it was considered his other role of national talent manager should not permit enough time to also choose senior Australian sides. Chappell has recently downscaled his time in the national talent manager role to three days a week, after the appointment of the former Test wicketkeeper Graham Manou to oversee the junior talent pathway.Interestingly, there were two attendees of the extraordinary board meeting (a telephone hook-up) who had a direct role in the Argus review itself: the former captain and board director Mark Taylor, and the chief executive James Sutherland, who vigorously defended the review’s conclusions and recommendations on Wednesday. Curious, then, that the board settled on its current selection course.So it is understandable then that players are questioning Chappell’s return to the selection panel, albeit on a temporary basis. Cricketers are known to have long memories, and as one noted this morning: “I’m just trying to work out what the cut off age for the baggy green will be now…”

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jul-2015The Pakistan openers began in a sedate manner, but put away the bad deliveries. Dhammika Prasad broke the 32-run stand, trapping Shan Masood lbw, and Ahmed Shehzad fell a few overs later to a poor shot•AFPYounis Khan and Azhar Ali looked good in the consolidation process, but Younis called for a suicidal run and was needlessly run out, moments before lunch.•AFPRain interrupted the second session for significant periods, stalling any momentum that either side could possibly build•AFPIn between gloom of the weather and the wickets, Azhar played some beautiful shots, timing them to perfection. He continued his fine form from the second match, and was looking good for another century•AFPBut another heavy spell of rain wiped out close to an hour of play. The break helped Sri Lanka as they picked up a few wickets, including the key scalp of Azhar for 52•AFPWickets continued to fall and only Sarfraz Ahmed’s unbeaten 72 reduced the deficit to 69 as Pakistan ended the day on 209 for 9•AFP

The former Australian PM Bob Hawke was a wicketkeeper and loved cricket and Bradman. But he once left the Don speechless with the force of his political convictions

Ashley Mallett23-Apr-2014Few deliveries got past Don Bradman’s guard.As a cricketer Bob Hawke was a competent wicketkeeper-batsman and he didn’t bowl, but a verbal delivery by him to Bradman in 1970 had the legendary batsman floundering.”The 1970 Springbok rugby team had just flown home and Bradman rang me,” Hawke said when I spoke to him last week. Then head of Australia’s most powerful collective of trade unions, the ACTU, Hawke had led opposition to the visit by the South African rugby side, and Bradman had seen for himself how difficult it had been for officials, security staff and police to prevent protesters from damaging the ground and disrupting play. However, the Australian cricket board wanted to host South Africa and months earlier had issued an invitation for the South African cricket team to tour Australia in the summer of 1971-72.To that end, he invited the ACTU president to Adelaide for a secret meeting.”I went out to his home in Kensington Gardens,” Hawke said, “and he said, ‘Bob, I don’t think politics should come into sport.'”And I said, ‘I couldn’t agree with you more, Don. We haven’t brought politics into sport; it is the government of South Africa which has brought politics into sport, because the government of South Africa has a policy that no person who isn’t white is allowed to represent their country in sport. That’s bringing politics into sport.””He looked at me for about 30 seconds and then he said, ‘I’ve got no answer to that, Bob.'”Hawke, in a sentence, had managed to get Bradman to see the light. On September 9, 1971, the board met and decided to withdraw the invitation for South Africa to tour. Bradman informed the press and that announcement was the start of more than 20 years in isolation for South Africa’s cricketers.As with a couple of legendary politicians – Robert Menzies and HV “Doc” Evatt – before him and John Howard after him, Hawke is what is known as a cricket tragic.

“With blood streaming from the wound I collapsed on the outfield of James Oval, where the visiting South Africans were playing a match. Roy held my leg together in a vice-like grip until an ambulance arrived”Bob Hawke on how Roy McLean saved his life

Born in Bordertown, South Australia, in December 1929, one of Hawke’s earliest cricket memories was listening to the 1938 Ashes series in England. “I’d go to sleep very early, so I could wake and listen to the simulated wireless broadcast of the Test matches.”[Don] Bradman was god. I can still feel the world falling apart when Len Hutton hit the world-record Test match score of 364, overtaking Bradman’s 334.”Hawke remembers the Australian 1948 team playing a game against Western Australia before sailing to England from Fremantle.”Keith Miller was bowling and WA batsman Basil Rigg drove him majestically for four. Next ball was a vicious bouncer and down went Rigg and he was stretchered off the ground. WA lost three or four more quick wickets and back came the injured Rigg, and there was Don Bradman, after calling back Miller to bowl, rushing to meet the incoming batsman and showing him how to hook!”Hawke’s parents, Clem and Ellie, travelled from Bordertown to Perth at the start of the Second World War, and the youngster was soon revelling in his studies and sport at Perth Modern School. There he was for two years the wicketkeeper-batsman for the school’s first Xl.”One game I particularly recall was in the annual Boys versus Masters match. Traditionally any boy hitting a hundred was given a brand new cricket bat and this day I had reached 93 when the physics teacher, a slow legspinner called Cyril Calcutt, had his lbw appeal upheld for a ball which pitched a mile outside leg stump and I was given out. So I missed getting the new bat. I will never forget the bastard.”Young Hawke excelled in his studies and his great interest in student affairs and in pursuing a political career inspired him more than the prospect of becoming a top-flight cricketer did.”I did have a lot of fun playing with university in the WA grade competition. I began in the A grade team same day as John Rutherford, but I didn’t have the same almost-obsessive passion for the game which he had. He was the hardest-working player of my experience.”Rutherford toured England in 1956 and Keith Miller dubbed him Pythagoras, because “he was ever trying to work things out”.”I caught up with Jack at the Perth Ashes Test this year and he looked in good shape,” Hawke said. “I cannot think of any cricketer who possessed such absolute dedication.”As a wicketkeeper Hawke was no mug behind the stumps. Once when Ray Strauss, the star swing bowler of University of WA, was operating, eagle-eyed Hawke noticed the batsman, Bill Alderman (Test player Terry Alderman’s father), tended to drag his back foot forward when attempting to glance a ball that strayed down leg side.”I approached Ray and said, ‘Now, see if you can slide a big swinging inswinger down leg side on the second ball of this over.’ Sometimes in a sporting life you just do something perfectly and that’s what happened. Strauss bowled the perfect delivery; Alderman went forward and he got a faint nick which I caught, and in the same instant I whipped off the bails and yelled to the square leg umpire, ‘Howzat?'”The square-leg umpire, who no doubt looked like an old-time version of David Shepherd, said in a booming voice: “Bloody marvellous!”Cricket has been Hawke’s greatest sporting love, and a Test cricketer once saved his life.Early in the summer of 1952-53, the very year the South African Test team was touring Australia, the 23-year-old Hawke was working as a gardener at the University of Western Australia.”I was filling in time getting some cash together before heading to Oxford. I had the noble task of spreading shit [manure] around the trees. Then came the time to refill the cart.”The horse was reluctant to move, so I went to the front and pulled hard at his head, only for the shaft to somehow spring free. The point of the thing cut into my leg, causing a huge gaping gash from above the knee to below the groin. With blood streaming from the wound I staggered out from the trees and collapsed on the outfield of James Oval, where the visiting South Africans were playing a match against the Governor’s XI.”South Africa Test batsman Roy McLean dashed to Hawke’s side. “Roy held my leg together with his big strong hands and my leg remained in his vice-like grip until an ambulance arrived. No doubt, Roy McLean saved my life that day in 1952.”Hawke and British PM Margaret Thatcher, their spouses, and England Test captain David Gower at 10 Downing Street in 1989•PA PhotosHawke was elected Australian prime minister in 1983. When South Africa were finally readmitted to the international cricket family, their board chief Dr Ali Bacher invited Hawke to be guest speaker at a function celebrating the first Test in the republic in the post-apartheid era.”I told them the Roy MacLean story and added, ‘I guess some of you people would have hoped Roy didn’t do what he did’, and a couple of blokes in the crowd yelled, ‘Yeah, yeah!'”Round the time of the Centenary Test between Australia and England at the MCG, Hawke was invited to play in a charity match at Drummoyne Oval. I didn’t know about the talks he was having with former Test players, including Ian Chappell and Bob Cowper, about helping them form a players’ union, so I was surprised when Chappelli indicated that he would like me to go easy on Hawke when he came in to bat.He got 30-odd and batted well. And the players’ union idea fell away pretty smartly when Kerry Packer took on the establishment with World Series Cricket.Hawke loves the cut and thrust of top-flight cricket, just as he revelled jousting with the opposition at question time in parliament. For him the joy of cricket has long been the enduring humour in the game’s characters and their stories.”I suppose you’ve heard the one about Joel Garner,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. “The West Indians were in Australia for a Test series and there were some girlies hanging about at the ground. One girl sidled up to Joel and said, ‘Is it true what they say, that you are built in proportion to your height?’ ‘Young lady, if I was built in proportion I’d be 8ft 10in.'”Hawke’s parting shot: “I’ll tell you a very interesting sociological fact. I can keep you entertained for a couple of hours telling cricket and golf stories, but I have not heard one funny story from any code of football.”

South Africa cricket may lose one of the thinkers if the World T20 ends up being Johan Botha’s swansong

Firdose Moonda16-Sep-2012Understanding the mental aspects of the game, rather than brazen superiority of skill, is what Johan Botha thinks has given him a competitive edge. That edge will now be taken to South Australia where Botha will play his cricket after the World T20. He has asked to be released from his national contract to ply his trade elsewhere, potentially ending years of selfless service to the South Africa team.How will South Africa miss Johan Botha? Let me count the ways.Two stand glaringly, like sets of stumps at either side of 22 yards. Botha can bowl and his wily offspin has contributed to many a South African win. Botha can bat and although he is not often relied on to change the match with the willow, he can keep a cool head when it’s needed.But the third reason hides away and emerges only when the ball hits the rough. Botha is a captain without the title, a leader in regular player’s clothing and one of the wisest heads in the international game.Evidence of that was seen as recently as the rain-affected third Twenty20 between South Africa and England last week. Wayne Parnell came under attack from an aggressive Jos Buttler, who thwacked the left-armer for the second most expensive over in T20 history. Between balls, Botha was the one offering advice.Botha functioned as a behind-the-scenes leader, even with the ball. Until recently, spin was not a method of attack for South African cricket and Botha had to learn to operate subtly but smartly to make an impact.”It’s been pretty much the same for me all the way through: keep it simple and try to stay one step ahead,” he said. “That’s the key, not just for me as a spinner but for anyone, to try and out-think the batsmen. Some days it doesn’t work, some days you do go for a few runs but if you can try and stay ahead most of the time, you should be ok.”Playing cricket craftily earned Botha an IPL contract with the Rajasthan Royals, where he showed himself to be a resourceful allrounder. Having had a troubled start to his career, with the spectre of chucking looming at the beginning, Botha’s value had finally come full circle. It translated into a short stint as South Africa’s T20 captain – a role he held for 10 months before AB de Villiers took over. Stripped off the leadership role, Botha was also pipped of his spot in the XI by Robin Peterson, who had been South Africa’s leading wicket-taker in the 2011 World Cup.Botha was pushed further away, eventually as far as South Australia, where he will relocate to after the World T20. Botha has admitted the move could see him represent South Africa much less. Although he remains available for selection, Sri Lanka is likely to be his swansong.

I think it’s because the overs go by so quickly, so guys feel a bit rushed to score and to get on with it. It’s always just that period after the powerplay that is key and if you can start well you can build a lot of pressure on the oppositionJohan Botha

He does not regard himself as in competition with Peterson and hopes to work with him at the tournament. “With AB keeping, it frees another spot up later in the order and that helps both of us. Both of us can bat and that also helps. Over here you want to at least have two frontline spinners and then a couple more as backup. I think management might be thinking the way of a couple of spinners,” he said. “And we will still have two or three quicks playing and Albie, so there are lots of options.”Although conditions in Sri Lanka are being spoken about as more favourable to seamers than usual, Botha insists South Africa’s slower bowlers will still play a big role in their quest for major tournament silverware. “As a spinner, you are always in with a chance of just missing the middle of the bat and getting guys caught,” he said. “I think it’s because the overs go by so quickly, so guys feel a bit rushed to score and to get on with it. It’s always just that period after the powerplay that is key and if you can start well you can build a lot of pressure on the opposition.”Accumulating and applying that pressure is usually the job of a captain but it is one Botha has taken on over time. It may have been his way of showing aptitude for more than just limited-overs cricket but few interpreted it that way. Botha played just two Tests for South Africa and his hopes of any more are slim.That is one of the main reasons for his move to South Australia. Botha explained his request to be released from his CSA contract as being motivated by a chance to prolong his first-class career. “I’m going to Australia after the T20 World Cup to give my four-day career one more big go,” he said. “It’s easy to take the easy option and just play T20s but all the guys still want to test themselves over five days and that’s great to see.”

The cricketing victims of the Lahore attack take their first steps to returning to the game and life as usual

Alex Brown15-Apr-2009Ahsan Raza remembers laughing. “On the way to the ground, Chris Broad joked with me that there was no way the policeman outside the bus could resist a terrorist,” Raza said. “He was carrying his rifle like a bat.”It was the last time the Pakistani umpire’s lungs were at full capacity. Within moments of his exchange with Broad, two bullets had passed through the Raza’s body. Surgeons required 20 pints of blood to stabilise his blood pressure while operating on his ruptured liver and damaged lung. The father of three remains under regular medical supervision.A month has passed since the terror attack outside the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, and the effects are still being acutely felt. For Raza, the fourth umpire for the Pakistan-Sri Lanka Test, the simple act of talking serves as a reminder of the moment his bus came under terrorist gunfire. His lungs ache.”I don’t have words to describe what happened,” he said. “It has left horrified feelings in my memory. But it will not stop me. I would love to umpire again. Definitely I will join the Elite panel. I was motivated before the attack and I am now more motivated after this. I recently received an email from Daryl Harper, who said one day we would again be umpiring together on the ground. I would like that.”Raza and Thilan Samaraweera, the Sri Lankan batsman, were the most severely injured of the cricketing victims of the Lahore attacks. Samaraweera remained in hospital for a fortnight after surgery to his left leg, and is now undergoing painful sessions of physiotherapy to repair muscles damaged by a terrorist’s bullet. His captain Mahela Jayawardene is under no illusions as to the enormity of the challenge before his young batsman, who prior to the attack had posted double-centuries in consecutive Tests.”There is still pain for him, but hopefully in six-to-eight weeks he will be back training again,” Jayawardene said. “The wounds, I have been told, have healed better than was anticipated. He is a very tough character. It is obviously a difficult road for him after the terrible thing that happened to him. But knowing him like I do, I am confident he will make a full comeback.”Jayawardene might not bear physical scars from the attack, but his experiences since returning from Pakistan have been harrowing all the same. Along with his team-mates, he has undergone group counselling sessions, and as leader has watched as his players have struggled to come to terms with the events of March 3.”The guys have been through quite a bit of trauma, and everyone responds to that in their own way,” he said. “Quite a few of the guys in the team are youngsters, and the way they have pulled through everything that has happened has shown a lot of maturity. But it is different person to person. One of the good things is that we have been able to spend a lot of time with our families, and I think that has helped. In Sri Lanka, family is a very important and close-knit aspect to our culture. There has been a lot of talking.”One thing which we have not yet done is sit together as a team in a bus again. That will be a big moment for all of us. But to my mind there is no safe place anymore. What we do is try to play cricket wherever it is possible, but with the attitude of these people, bad things can now happen anywhere in the world.”Kumar Sangakkara concurs. Having replayed the events of Lahore in his mind countless times, Sri Lanka’s captain-elect feels cricketing administrators must be more vigilant in their attitudes towards security in future.”You think about it all the time – ‘What if, what if, what if?’ – but even though the horror of it is running through your mind, you are very thankful to be in one piece and able to enjoy time with your family again,” Sangakkara said. “Life and time do not wait. You have to try and find your way to a normal life again, and all the guys are looking forward to that.”We have all had to grow up a bit more and not be so naive to think that sportsmen are somehow immune from the troubles of the world. The Munich Olympics were probably the last time a sports team has been targeted like this. We lived in a bubble thinking we were untouchable. That has gone now. The sense of security has disappeared. These threats are real, and not just confined to one section of society.”Ahsan Raza is now even more determined to join the Elite panel of umpires•Associated PressThe resilience demonstrated by the Sri Lankans has been nothing short of astonishing. Within three weeks of coming under terrorist fire, the nation’s cricketers – with the exception of the hospitalised Samaraweera – returned to the field for an inter-provincial Twenty20 competition. Among them was Ajantha Mendis, the 24-year-old spinner, who spent more than a week under medical supervision after being struck in the chest and back by shrapnel. Though the wounds have yet to heal, Mendis has nonetheless been in action domestically for Wayamba, and will be in the coming weeks for the Kolkata Knight Riders.”I never really had that kind of military training,” said Mendis, who plays for the Army in Sri Lanka’s first-class cricket competition. “Even though my rank is ‘gunner’, I have never taken part in war. I was really shaken. I knew I had had a brush with death. Physically there was pain, but the shock of what happened was the big thing.”It has been a very difficult time. There has been a lot of pain. But it is nice to be back on the field again and I am looking forward to soon joining my franchise in South Africa.”