Time for change, starting at the top
In the Australian , Malcolm Conn argues that after Cricket Australia failed to handle the transition of eras after 2006-07, change must now start at the top.
Brydon Coverdale
25-Feb-2013
In the Australian, Malcolm Conn argues that after Cricket Australia failed to handle the transition of eras after 2006-07, change must now start at the top.
Australia developed the bad habits of county cricket it had despised and ridiculed for so long. The states, which appoint delegates to the CA board in a bizarre and lopsided fashion, were recycling modest players to represent them instead of taking a broader long-term view to produce future talent for their country.
Peter Roebuck in the Age writes that Ricky Ponting deserves some leeway, but Tim Nielsen is one of the men whose positions should be looked at following the Ashes defeat.
The positions of the coach and vice-captain are more problematic. For decades Cricket Australia set the benchmark for sporting administration. Now it seems overstaffed and heavy-handed. The decision taken a few months ago to give Tim Nielsen a three-year contract extension seemed ill-advised. On the day of his removal those responsible ought to go with him.
And in the Independent, Roebuck calls for introspection from Australia into issues ranging from selection to coaching and preparation of pitches.
In the West Australian, John Townsend backs Ponting to stay on as captain, at least in the short term.
Several things are clear from the innings defeat yesterday, the second by such a margin in three Tests and the fourth loss in the past eight Ashes Tests. The first is that Ricky Ponting remains the only credible candidate to captain Australia. He might not be in a year, or even in August when Australia travel to Sri Lanka, but there is no alternative with his substantial spread of talent, authority and willingness to confront what amounts to a national sporting crisis.
Now is not the time to make serious changes to the Australian side, says Shane Warne in the Daily Telegraph. Australia must wait until the end of the Sydney Test, and perhaps the remainder of the Sheffield Shield to plan the way forward.
In the Guardian, Kevin Mitchell tracks the rise of England and the simulateous decline of Australia through the Ashes series so far.
Brydon Coverdale is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets here