Thursday, March 10, 2011

Australia Turns to Ex-Captains Waugh, Taylor, Border for Cricket Review


Former Australia cricket captains Allan Border, Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh were appointed to a panel that will review the national team’s performance following the 3-1 Ashes loss to England.
Former BHP Billiton chairman Don Argus will chair the review team, while Malcolm Speed, ex-chief executive officer of the International Cricket Council, will be his deputy, Cricket Australia said today in an e-mailed statement.
The group will be tasked with identifying “the causes of the Australian team’s recent performance decline in Test matches and recommend changes to deliver sustained success,” the governing body said. Australia has slipped from first to fifth in the ICC’s Test rankings.
The review panel has been asked to report in the second half of 2011 in time for recommendations to be considered before the 2011-12 Australian international cricket season, Melbourne- based Cricket Australia added.
“The caliber of the cricket people who have agreed to be involved in the review is outstanding and means the total review group will be well placed to conduct a rigorous and independent review that results in fact-based recommendations to the board,” Cricket Australia Chairman Jack Clarke said.
Cricket Australia also commissioned an independent review of the governance of the sport in the country and last month appointed former Australian Football League commissioner Colin Carter and David Crawford, who led an inquiry into soccer in Australia in 2002 that led to the game’s restructure, to assist.
The move mirrors that made by the England and Wales Cricket Board in 2007 after England lost an Ashes series 5-0 for the first time in 86 years.
Australia’s 3-1 Ashes defeat was its first home loss to England for 24 years and worst series reverse since 1988-89. The touring team only had to bat once in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney as Australia lost three matches in a series by more than an innings for the first time in 134 years of Test cricket.

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