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Hilditch eyeing regaining Ashes on English soil in 2013

March 27, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Australia’s chief cricket selector Andrew Hilditch is not only planning for next summer”s Ashes revenge but also for regaining the Ashes on English soil in 2013.

Hilditch says that he and the other three selectors — Jamie Cox, David Boon and Merv Hughes – maybe busy with their work away from cricket, but all four are overtly committed to keeping Australian cricket at the top of the pile internationally, and in this context, are very focussed on zeroing in on and developing existing and available talent.

“Any selections have had an eye to getting the best side on the paddock, but also an eye to the next Ashes. We”re pleased with the progress. Shane Watson emerging as such a class all-rounder and Mitchell Johnson improving all the time; the same with Nathan Hauritz. They are three real positives. The negative is we have a fair few injuries with our bowling stocks, but we”ve been able to replace them and people like [Doug] Bollinger and [Ryan] Harris have taken opportunities,” Hilditch told The Age in an interview.

“We”ll be looking to get our full bowling stocks ready to select from for the Ashes, so getting them fit is a priority,” he added.

“There will be plenty of opportunities for them (all bowlers) to push for Ashes selection whatever happens because we know they are good enough and the lead-up provides plenty of time to get ready,” he said.

“All we”re doing is trying to rebuild for the next Ashes and it”s good that we”re winning, but the real Test will come next summer,” Hilditch said.

“Our planning goes several years past [next summer] to the 2013 Ashes, and I don”t think I have seen the young talent coming through healthier. There are three or four batters who aren”t in the team at the moment who will definitely have an impact<” Hilditch said.

He said that the selectors were pleased with the progress being made by Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Callum Ferguson, Peter Forrest and David Hussey.

He also said that Brett Lee had to get back to bowling at his best to be in with a chance for the 2011 World Cup.

Hilditch described himself as an ordinary cricketer (played 18 Tests for Australia), who was thrilled to be part of Australian cricket.

“Being a selector never leaves your mind, that”s the most difficult thing. It”s not just picking the next Test team; as I said, 2013 is already very much on our agenda. My passion is to do it, so I do it,” he said. (ANI)

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Ex-Oz selector demands axing of North, blooding of Smith

March 17, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Sydney, Mar. 17 (ANI): Former Australian selector John Benaud has said the current National Selection Panel (NSP) should show some courage by axing a struggling Marcus North and blood Blues dynamo Steve Smith against New Zealand.

Test legend Greg Chappell also insisted that the four-man panel of Andrew Hilditch, Jamie Cox, David Boon and Merv Hughes could no longer ignore the 20-year-old”s irresistible case for selection.

Known for its conservatism, the Hilditch-led panel is understood to be leaning towards North over Smith, mindful that giving him the bullet now would almost certainly represent the last rites to the 30-year-old”s international career.

But Benaud said it would be a grave mistake to overlook the red-hot Smith, who clinched the Steve Waugh Medal, New South Wale”s top gong, on Sunday night after taking 21 wickets and hammering 772 runs at 77.2 in the Sheffield Shield.

“The selectors have to go with Smith. The time is right. Unfortunately, Marcus North has to go. This is the ideal opportunity for Steve to play New Zealand, who are not exactly high-flyers. North is on the slide with his form and Smith is on the way up,” the Daily Telegraph quoted Benaud, as saying.

“The danger is if they leave North there and he makes 50, it doesn”t mean he”s back in form and off again, it just means you”re playing New Zealand and you”ve scored runs. It might be enough to save him for another Test, but the selectors have to seize the day and pick Steve Smith,” he added.

Former Australian skipper Chappell agreed, saying the leg-spinning all-rounder would never be better placed mentally to cope with being catapulted into the Test line-up.

“Steve”s progress in the last 12 months has been quite sensational,” said Chappell.

“Selecting is all about picking guys when they are ready. The kid is coming off three hundreds and a seven-for … if you are going to give him a Test, this is the time. He doesn”t need time, he needs further challenges to keep getting better,” Chappell added. (ANI)

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Tim Paine is heir-apparent to Haddin, says Harrison

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Melbourne, Sep 18 (ANI): Tasmanian Cricket Association chairman Tony Harrison has said that Tim Paine’s match-winning one-day century for Australia against England should make all cricket followers aware of his class and potential.

“Wicketkeeper batsman Tim Paine’s first international one-day century scored against England overnight and his outstanding form behind the stumps have clearly stamped him as the heir-apparent Australian wicketkeeper,” Harrison said.

“Tim has easily fitted into international cricket and looks extremely comfortable in the Australian team,” he said.

Harrison said Paine was now clearly Australia’s second wicketkeeper behind Test incumbent Brad Haddin.

“But I am confident he can and will take the next step,” The Australian quoted Harrison, as saying.

Paine scored 111 runs giving Australia a 111-run victory over England in the penultimate match of their one-day series at Trent Bridge.

Australian selector David Boon today said that Paine was staking a claim for selection as Australia’s wicketkeeper for the domestic summer.

“It will be very important for him to continue to show this form and confidence through to the last game in England and then in the Champions Trophy,” Boon told ABC radio.

“Who knows? If he comes back to Australia and has a strong start to the domestic season his future is in his hands basically.” (ANI)

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Benaud calls for overhaul of Australian selection panel

August 30, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Melbourne, Aug 30 (ANI): Former Test selector John Benaud has blamed the Australian selection panel for a series of blunders, including dumping opening batsman Phil Hughes for Shane Watson, opting for wicketkeeper Brad Haddin over Graham Manou and leaving behind a spare batsman.

Benaud has called for an overhaul of the four-man panel, claiming the team of Andrew Hilditch, Jamie Cox, Merv Hughes and David Boon lacks balance and innovation, and is too stubborn to change.

“I have a fear about this selection panel, that they don’t like admitting a blue. They’ve got this blinkered view of things,” the Daily Telegraph quoted Benaud, as saying.

“It’s all right for Jamie Cox to put his hand up and say, ‘I misread the pitch’ but I don’t think it was that so much as it was the way we handled things.

“They got themselves into a bit of a corner, these blokes, because when they chose the Ashes squad initially they only had the two opening batsmen. They were one batsman short,” he said.

“I feel they should have taken (Brad) Hodge to cover any eventuality. They created their own problem by dropping Hughes, who two Tests before made two centuries in a Test match against one of the best opening bowling attacks in the world (South Africa).

“To drop him, that suggests they were never really keen on Hughes as an opening bat, and that they’d been tyre-levered into picking him because the kid had done so well.

“But then they surprised us all by picking Watson as the opening batting replacement. I just couldn’t follow that,” Benaud said. (ANI)

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Former Australian players slam selection panel for Ashes defeat

August 25, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Sydney, Aug 25(ANI): Former Australian cricketers Shane Warne and Tom Moody have criticised the selectors, following Australia’s Ashes-losing defeat in the Fifth Test at The Oval.

Warne said that he was “staggered” by the decision to leave spinner Nathan Hauritz out of the side, while Moody said that selectors had got the decision “horribly wrong”, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

“I do not know who had the final say on selection, whether it was the selectors themselves, or Ricky, or what degree of input came from Tim Nielsen, the coach. We all make mistakes and somebody, somewhere, will have to take the blame for this one,” Warne wrote in The Times.

Moody said that the decision to not pick a genuine spinner on a slow and turning pitch at The Oval was “inexcusable”.

“If anything, you would be looking to play two. But, Australia chose not to and paid the price dearly,” Moody said.

“It was quite clear to me Clark was the one that had to miss out, even though he bowled particularly well at Headingley. At the end of the day, you’ve got to pick horses for courses, and that Test wicket is a place, where you always have to employ a spinner,” he added.

Meanwhile, Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland has backed Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of the selection panel, and fellow selectors Jamie Cox, David Boon and Merv Hughes, and said that selectors were in no way “accountable for us losing the Ashes”.

“It was only six or seven months ago that we had a fantastic series in South Africa and beat the No.1 team in the world with a pretty similar line-up, and the selectors were hailed for their selections and the perceived risks they took in backing young talent,” Sutherland said. (ANI)

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Poor batting, not absence of spin cost Australia the Ashes: Hilditch

August 25, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Melbourne, Aug 25 (ANI): Chairman of Australian selectors, Andrew Hilditch, has rejected criticism for not playing spinner Nathan Hauritz in the fifth Ashes Test, and said that Australia lost the Test because they got 160 in the first innings.

Hilditch admitted that his panel was “gutted” by Australia’s 2-1 Ashes loss to England.

He said the Australian team’s failure to prevail in big moments ultimately derailed its Ashes campaign, but did not expect players or selectors’ heads to roll as a result.

The national selectors – Hilditch, David Boon, Merv Hughes and Jamie Cox – were under fire, with a host of former players saying they had erred in choosing an all-pace attack for The Oval.

But Hilditch said it was simply a matter of misreading the pitch. “We read it as a wicket that was looking like a road, which was the assessment of everybody,” he said.

“We thought it was a wicket that would suit the four fast bowlers that played at Headingley and it was a reluctance to change a winning side from the fourth Test. It would be an over simplification to say that is the reason we lost the Test. We lost the Test because we got 160 in the first innings,” The Herald Sun quoted him, as saying.

“Obviously the selector on duty has a big role in assessing wicket conditions, but in the end we all communicate and made the decision. Jamie Cox was the selector on duty but everybody misread the wicket – captain and coach included. That just happens from time to time,” Hilditch added.

Ponting agreed that “we probably got that wrong. Not before the game, we thought we were picking the right attack for the conditions that we saw. But in hindsight, a specialist spinner would have been pretty handy out there.”

Spin legend Shane Warne said that “everyone should be under the microscope” and that “someone would have to take the rap” for Hauritz not playing at The Oval.

“To win a Test match you’ve got to take 20 wickets and Hauritz would have made a difference on this wicket. England wouldn’t have made 330 in the first innings,” he added.

Former Australian captain Ian Chappell said the selectors needed to remember to “pick a team for five days, not just the first one.” (ANI)

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Hilditch does an encore with no Oz selector present during Australia’s warm up game

June 27, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Melbourne, June 25 (ANI): Australia’s chief selector Andrew Hilditch is at the centre of another controversy, with no selector being present to watch a pre-Ashes “bowl-off”.

No selector was there to watch comeback pacers Brett Lee and Stuart Clark waiting to make their bids for Ashes spots in the four-day match against county side Sussex.

Hilditch will not arrive in Britain until the day before Australia’s second and last pre-Ashes tour match, against the England Lions starting on July 1 in Worcester, The Herald Sun reports.

Team officials said there had never been a plan for Hilditch to be at the Sussex game, and he would be receiving regular reports from skipper Ricky Ponting and coach Tim Nielsen.

But with selector David Boon heading home after Australia’s ill-fated Twenty20 World Cup campaign, Lee and his fellow bowlers would have hardly been delighted they had to push their claims without a selector on duty.

Hilditch came under heavy fire in the summer when he was photographed walking his dog on an Adelaide beach as Matthew Hayden was fighting to save his career in the SCG Test against South Africa.

Hilditch, who earns a hefty Cricket Australia retainer for his part-time role, is coming under increasing scrutiny, with Cricket Australia’s board recently recommending the appointment of a full-time chairman to the national panel.

It means Hilditch may be forced to choose between his job as an Adelaide solicitor and the selection role, the paper reports. (ANI)

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Watson cleared for Ashes selection

May 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Melbourne, May 14 (ANI): Australian all-rounder Shane Watson has been cleared for Ashes selection by the medical staff.

According to Fox Sports, Watson was assessed by Cricket Australia medical staff following his return to Australia from the limited-overs series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.

“Scans have confirmed a minor right groin injury to Shane and we expect him to be fit to play in (next month’s) ICC World Twenty20,” said Australia team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris.

“He’ll be monitored over the coming weeks and is expected to be available for consideration for Ashes selection,” Kountouris added.

Australia’s Ashes squad will be announced next Wednesday and Watson, 27, may well be chosen, subject to fitness, given he is expected to have next month’s Twenty20 World Cup in England to prove himself before the five-Test series.

According to The Australian, the selection process will be a balancing act for the four-man panel of chairman Andrew Hilditch, David Boon, Merv Hughes and Jamie Cox given they must also assess fast bowlers Brett Lee, 32, and Stuart Clark, 33, who have only just returned to international cricket after long injury lay-offs. (ANI)

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Clarke backs opener Hughes to perform

March 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Johannesburg, Feb.28 (ANI): Australian vice-captain Michael Clarke has rallied behind young opening batsman Phil Hughes, who made a fourth-ball duck on debut against South Africa.

Hughes, aged just 20, tried to cut a short ball from Dale Steyn in the first over of the match and was caught behind.

“He was disappointed,” said Clarke, who made 151 in his Test debut against India in Bangalore in 2004, aged 23.

“He wanted to do really well but he’s a pretty tough cookie and it was a pretty tough wicket to make his debut on.

“Nine times out of 10 he hits that ball for four as well. He’s a pretty confident, positive sort of guy and I know he’s looking forward to a second chance in the second innings,” the Courier Mail quoted Clarke, as saying.

The tiny left-hander has a man-sized appetite for runs and Clarke and selector David Boon are both more than happy to predict Hughes can show a massive improvement in Australia’s second innings.

“He seems pretty calm about it all,” Boon said before the match.

“He’s quiet. You can see that he always appears to be thinking about the game, thinking about his role and what he’s going to do. From what I’ve seen of him playing in first-class cricket, his ability to continually forge runs is outstanding for a young guy and what I see is something very strong in character,” said Boon.

Steyn says nerves may have played a part in the downfall of Hughes.

“If I could have bowled that ball a little bit closer to his head I would have enjoyed that,” Steyn said.

“It was a bit wide wasn’t it? But look it got a wicket.

“Who knows, maybe he was a little bit nervous and wanted to get off the mark. It was just unfortunate that he found the edge — fortunate for me, unfortunate for him.” (ANI)

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Boon hugely impressed by Hughes

February 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Melbourne, Feb 26 (ANI): Former opener David Boon is hugely impressed by Australian opening batsman Phil Hughes.

Hughes is set to open Australia’s batting with fellow left-hander Simon Katich in the first Test against South Africa starting today in Johannesburg.

Boon says an incident in a Sheffield Shield game in Hobart in December underlined Hughes’ potential.

“He has a big ticker because I know Hilfy (Ben Hilfenhaus) cleaned him up with one at Bellerive. But he took his time, got himself right and got back into the job and nothing changed,” The Courier Mail quoted Boon, as saying.

Hughes Shield figures this season of 891 runs at 74.25 might also have something do with his selection in the Test squad after Cricket Australia scanned the nation for the next Matthew Hayden.

“I think he knows where his stumps are. What I see is someone very strong in character. He’s attuned to what his game is and he doesn’t try to go outside it,” Boon said.

“I probably shouldn’t say too much because they don’t know too much about him, but he knows his game and anyone who knows cricket, will see where his scoring areas are and what he does outside those,” he added.

Hughes admitted to feeling “a few nerves” in his first game for Australia, scoring 24 and 53 in a three-day game against a South African President’s XI in Potchefstroom last week. (ANI)

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Tough Oz opener Hughes says he is ready for Proteas chin music

February 25, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Johannesburg, Feb.25 (ANI): Debutant Australian opener Phillip Hughes is not too concerned about walking out to the middle of the Wanderer’s cricket ground on Thursday to meet South Africa’s much vaunted pace attack.

Hughes is unperturbed and unflappable. Waiting to ruin his day, will be Dale Steyn and Makhaya Ntini.

Steyn took 10 wickets here last time and it has always been a happy hunting ground for Ntini.

But what does Hughes say?
“They played very well in Australia and now we come here. It’s definitely going to be a tough series and it’s definitely one we’re looking forward to.”

“In Australia, the domestic competition there has the likes of Shaun Tait, you face those guys in the nets. Obviously the nets are different, but there’s great skill and great bowlers around Australia. Obviously it’s a bigger stage and it’s going to be a challenge, no doubt. I love challenges.”

Hughes is buttoned down, polite, quiet and respectful, and tough too.
The selectors noticed it in Tasmania earlier this year. It wasn’t just that he scored half the NSW totals in both innings on a tricky deck, it was the way he got up off the ropes when he was sconned by Ben Hilfenhaus.

The delivery would have shaken a building and it shook Hughes. Selector David Boon was watching at the time and gets that delightful old chuckle going when he recalls the hit.

“Hilfy cleaned him up, it bopped him really hard and he stood there,” the hard man says, his moustache quivering with delight.

“It obviously knocked him around, shook him about a bit, but he took his time, got himself right and got back into the job and nothing changed.”

Boon was an anvil and Hughes appears the same. It remains to be seen whether the kid ever rubs a sore spot. The Tasmanian didn’t. (ANI)

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Oz selector Boon calls for patience

February 25, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Johannesburg, Feb.25 (ANI): Australian cricket selector David Boon has called on fans and critics to be patient about team selection and performance a day before they take on South Africa in the first Test at the Wanderer’s here.

Commenting on main selection issues, Boon said that as far the Wanderer’s was concerned, it “has “essentially been a seamers’ wicket.”

“Spinners can have a role, but they don’t appear to have had a massive impact in Test matches here. In the past five Tests here, spinners have only taken 10 wickets and three of (the spinners) were Shane Warne, Daniel Vettori and Anil Kumble,” he added.

He also said that pace bowlers Doug Bollinger and Ben Hilfenhaus bowled well in parts.

“I suppose, in a way, we’ve probably got a choice to make there. It’s not going to be an easy one,” Fox Sports quoted Boon, as saying.

Hinting at the possibility of all-rounder Marcus North getting a look in, Boon said: “He’s handy and worked for a number of years on getting another string to his bow. He’s shown a lot of younger cricketers that you’ve got to be good at something else. Marcus has done that as an off-spinner.”

As far as the state of Australian cricket was concerned, Boon said: ” History says the wheel turns. It’s absolute cycles. We’ve seen it with the West Indies and we’ve seen it with England, but I think Australia is in a far stronger position and has a greater base for us to restrict the downward cycle.”

“It’s nothing like we experienced in the early ’80s, nowhere near the extent of that, but I still think we’ve just got to be patient,” he said.

“The selectors back then were fantastic. When we went through that period they said, ‘Right, we can’t keep chopping and changing’.

They basically picked 16 or 18 guys and had them in their minds and for the next three or four years, we all played and we knew if we missed out, we weren’t going to be flicked. I think it built everything really well.

Through that, it gave Billy (Craig McDermott), the chance to improve as a young 19-year-old bowler. Steve Waugh was very up and down through those formative years but they stuck with him because everybody knew there was talent there.

We tried a couple of different combinations. I opened and then went back to three when Tubby (Mark Taylor) came in. We stuck together and I think we’re going to do the same here,” the former Australian player said. (ANI)

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David Boon’s legendary defence hasn’t weakened with age

February 24, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Melbourne, Feb 24 (ANI): At the age of 48, former Aussie opener David Boon was as solid in his defence as he ever was, and made South African net bowlers sweat it out in Potchefstroom on the third day of Australia’s tour game against Proteas XI.

Boon is in South Africa as a selector for the Australian team, but during a break in play he decided to borrow a pair of pads and a bat and give the local net bowlers a workout.

He armed himself with Brad Haddin’s bat, but did not bother with a helmet or introductions, The Courier Mail reported.

One of the Porteas bowlers came across and asked who he was. On being informed he yelled to his mates: “It is him, it’s Boony.”

At first, the young South African bowlers had taken it easy on the older man, but when they knew it was the former Test champion they threw everything they had at him, but could make no impression.

Boon was as solid in defence as he ever was. “How old is he?” one bowler asked.

Boon is 48 and retired from Test cricket in January 1996. He was twice the age of all the local bowlers, but it didn’t change much.

The former opener still cocks the front elbow, rehearsing his shots, and still places his solid frame squarely behind the ball.

He didn’t time them all perfectly but the cover drive was looking pretty sweet. The general consensus was that Boon was as good as any of the provincial batsmen the net bowlers competed against. (ANI)

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