Andrew Hilditch, Tim Nielsen no longer needed by Cricket Australia
Malcolm Conn
From: News Limited newspapers
August 19, 2011 3:23PM
Andrew Hilditch is now out of a job with Cricket Australia. The Advertiser
ANDREW Hilditchs controversial tenure as Australias chairman of selectors is over and Tim Nielsen must reapply for the Australian coaching role after the long-awaited Argus Review into Australian cricket was handed down today.
Cricket Australia chairman Jack Clarke confirmed at a press conference in Melbourne that wide-ranging structural changes will be implemented at Cricket Australia. Among those is the introduction of a five-man selection panel – including a fulltime chairman, two independents, the captain and coach – as well as a newly created position of General Manager of team performance, who will be responsible for coaching, selection and the Centre of Excellence.
Don Argus, the former chairman of BHP Billiton and Brambles, conducted the review, which has been touted as the most comprehensive in Australian cricket history. Argus interviewed more than 60 people involved in Australian cricket before presenting his findings to the CA board yesterday.
“A system that once worked is now in need of change,” Clarke said. “We’re not looking for scapegoats.”
Hilditch and Chappell will no longer be selectors under the new structure, although Chappell will for now continue in his role of national talent manager. Australian captain Michael Clarke and Nielsen will join the selection panel for the tour of Sri Lanka, although Nielsen will be under intense pressure to retain his position as head coach in the long-term.
Hilditch, who runs an Adelaide legal practice, will be unable to fill the role of chairman of selectors, which will now be a fulltime position, while there is no accommodation for Chappell to perform his current duel roles of fulltime selector and national talent manager.
Nielsen’s future as Australia’s coach is also in doubt, after he was forced to reapply for the redefined role.
“We need to align the coaching so there is one philosophy that the head coach is able to articulate,” said Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland. “Tim can apply for the job and he may well get the job but it’s a different role under the restructure.
“Quite clearly the report talks about new structures that are in place. We need to deliver a very strong performance and accountability culture within the team. There’s no reason why that can’t be Tim Nielsen.”
Both Clarke and Sutherland conceded Cricket Australia had made mistakes in the years that directly proceeded the national team’s era of dominance.
“It’s a harsh review,” Sutherland said. “It’s something we need to face up to and will face up to.
“None of us like or enjoy not being No. 1. We need clear structures and accountabilities to get us back on top as soon as possible.”
On a lighter note, Argus revealed he had been contacted by an English colleague who cheekily offered to provide input into the report “now that we’re the No. 1 team in the world.”
“I said, ‘What, get a Zimbabwean coach and four South Africans into the side?,” he quipped.
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