The author of a far-reaching and hard-hitting review of Australian cricket said Friday it will take 18 months to yield significant progress. But as a result of the report, which was seven months in the making, the chairman of selectors will become a full-time role, forcing out incumbent Andrew Hilditch.
As national talent manager, Greg Chappell will no longer be a selector and national coach Tim Nielsen will have to re-apply and is likely to lose the job, given its expanded responsibilities. Don Argus, the former chairman of BHP Billiton, said the report needed time to reap the most significant benefits. "It will take the best part of 18 months before you see the seeds of anything really changing," Argus told reporters at the announcement of the report's findings in Melbourne.
Australia have slumped to fifth in the ICC Test rankings with Ricky Ponting standing down as Test skipper last March to be replaced by his deputy Michael Clarke. Argus chaired a panel that included former Australian captains Allan Border, Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh and ex-Cricket Australia (CA) chief executive Malcolm Speed.
The review was prompted by the disastrous home Ashes series earlier this year which Australia lost 3-1 to England. Among the immediate changes will be captain Clarke and coach Nielsen to join a five-man national selection panel. CA will begin a search for a national performance manager, a newly-created position, with the appointee overseeing the revamped selection panel and coaching set-up. As a result of the review, the selectors will no longer report directly to the CA board, but be answerable to the new manager. Hilditch, Chappell and Nielsen will all continue in their current jobs until the performance manager is appointed and the full-time national selector is in place.