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Greg Chappell in frame to become Australian selector

Greg Chappell could go back to the future after being given an interview for the newly-created job on Australia's national selection panel

Peter English
Peter English
16-Aug-2010
Greg Chappell will have more to talk about with Ricky Ponting if he wins a spot on Australia's panel  •  AFP

Greg Chappell will have more to talk about with Ricky Ponting if he wins a spot on Australia's panel  •  AFP

Greg Chappell could go back to the future after being given an interview for the newly-created job on Australia's national selection panel. Chappell, a former Test captain, was one of the men who installed Allan Border as leader in 1984, but he stood down in 1987-88 after becoming upset with the game's administration structure.
He is currently the head coach at the Centre of Excellence and his place on Cricket Australia's list has been confirmed to Cricinfo. While the new full-time role comes with a spot on the selection panel, it also includes being a national talent manager and working with the states. Chappell does part of that already in his post at the Academy and as the Australia A coach.
Andrew Hilditch, David Boon, Merv Hughes and Jamie Cox are the incumbents on the panel that will undergo a mild restructure. Over the past two years the Test team has dropped from first to fourth on the rankings, and could go to fifth if England, who currently lead 2-0, cleansweep Pakistan in their four-match series.
The selection quartet works on a part-time basis, but Hilditch is not applying for the vacant job and said the redesign would not change his duties as chairman. "I look forward to having a full-time selector in the sense there are a lot of issues with workload management and our roster system and making sure we're covering all the cricket," Hilditch said earlier this month.
"[The new appointment] will have a role on the panel like any other selector, but a very important role in talent management and managing the state talent managers. It's a pretty big role straight away - a massive role. I think it's a big development for Australian cricket and I'm very excited."
Chappell, 62, is due to be interviewed this week. He was appointed at the Centre of Excellence in 2008, a year after he finished an eventful term as India's coach.

Peter English is the Australasia editor of Cricinfo