5:15 AM
Happy new year 2012
The merit of Don Argus's in-depth review into Australian cricket is being questioned after it was powerless to stop Simon Katich's sacking by a man whose future the inquiry will also determine.
Katich, who will play on next season, pulled no punches yesterday as he criticised the ''inconsistent'' selection policies of Andrew Hilditch's mostly part-time panel, who sacked him on Tuesday, saying, ''if you pay peanuts you get monkeys.''
While Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland was unhappy with that remark, Katich is unlikely to face censure.
Cricket Australia has defended the Argus review, which, five months after Australia's Ashes debacle, is not yet due to table any recommendations for the future of the game.
Hilditch's future is expected to be high on the review's agenda.
''Policies change from time to time in any business no matter whether you're talking about selection or other things,'' Sutherland said.
Katich has received a consolatory message from former opening partner and Test vice-captain Shane Watson but said he had not heard from Hilditch since their four-minute discussion on Tuesday nor from Greg Chappell since he joined the panel late last year. CA said last night that Hilditch warned Katich there was no guarantee he would have his contract renewed when the pair talked last March.
Slamming his dismissal as ''absolutely ridiculous'', the opener said it was time CA employed full-time selectors who were made accountable for their decisions.
Katich said the naming of a 17-man squad on the eve of the Ashes had a destabilising influence on the Australian team, which was crushed 3-1 by England last summer. ''I've got no doubt that it did, and I'm sure there'll be other players in the team saying the same thing because you've got so many guys looking over their shoulder about whether they would play or not,'' Katich said. ''If you were to compare it to how England prepared, they were settled, they played the same team in all their warm-up games and no surprise that they had a very good campaign. There needs to be more consistency.
''In my opinion, if you can't know what your best XI is a week or so before our biggest Test series that we play before the Ashes, that to me reeks of indecision. The fact we had 10 or 11 spinners in the last two or three years … is another indicator of the inconsistency in selections. There's been rules for some and rules for others.''
Katich was incensed the reason for his dumping was to establish a new opening partnership in preparation for the 2013 Ashes.
''That got me steaming, obviously, because to hear that when our opening partnership is something that's been one of the strong points of the team,'' he said.
Katich, who turns 36 in August, accused selectors of picking players on potential rather than performance, and believed he had been axed because of his age.
CA insists age did not count against Katich, who has averaged 50.48 since his recall to the Test side three years ago, and whose position is likely to be taken by a player, Phillip Hughes, who failed to pass 50 in six Ashes innings last summer.
''I've got a massive feeling my age played a big part in it,'' Katich said. ''There's been so much speculation about the age of our team.
''I know the last three seasons I've got the numbers on the board, I've enjoyed playing in the team, and to be told it's because the opening partnership needed to be bedded down before the 2013 Ashes doesn't sit well with me.
''As far back as when I started my career playing for Australia, [it] has always been about bottom-line performance. From as far back as I can remember, the team's always been picked on trying to win the next Test match that we're playing, obviously with an eye for the future, but that's always been the strength of Australian cricket. You pick the best 11 guys that are available.''
Former Test paceman Stuart Clark said it was ''a joke'' selectors were not all full-time. ''You're dealing with $2 million salaries and a guy that works part-time getting $40,000 a year. It's laughable,'' Clark said. ''When was the last time you saw a selector sacked for a poor selection? I can't seem to remember one.''
- Sydney Morning Herald
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