Adam Zampa’s Sheffield Shield selection farce is a lesson for Cricket NSW, and Australia
The arrows were flying in all directions after Adam Zampa’s NSW audition for an Australian Test tour, but BEN HORNE writes there should have been key lessons learned by every party after the Sheffield Shield selection farce.
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The arrows were flying in all directions after Adam Zampa’s NSW audition for an Australian Test tour and not a solitary party walks away unscathed.
Zampa may well be picked for February’s two Tests in Sri Lanka, and good luck to him if he is, but all parties could have handled his Sheffield Shield cameo better and there are lessons to be learnt for when this kind of issue inevitably rears its head again.
First and foremost, Cricket NSW has received a big wake-up call about what ex-greats – and even current board members – expect about cultivating a culture of what State cricket should mean for those representing the baggy blue.
Former captains Mark Taylor and Brad Haddin didn’t like the way up-and-coming Australian leg-spinner Tanveer Sangha was turfed out so Zampa could waltz in to play one match when he doesn’t attend State training.
NSW board members Ed Cowan and Stuart Clark (who is also a NSW selector) clearly didn’t agree with the method either, which suggests there was a substantial difference of opinion – or at least a communication breakdown – going on within the Blues organisation about how this selection should have been handled.
Zampa told Cricket Et Al that he had gone to NSW’s Chief Cricket Performance Officer Greg Mail to say he was available to play the Shield match against Tasmania at the SCG.
According to Zampa; “Maily said, ‘yeah we’ll go full steam ahead, you’re playing.”
A very different version of events was given by Clark who went on ABC Grandstand to claim NSW was told Zampa “had to play” by Cricket Australia, a notion strenuously denied by CA and their high performance boss, Ben Oliver, who says State selection is ultimately a State decision.
Cricket NSW apologised to Zampa, presumably for Clark’s comments, which also included the former Test quick stating: “We’d love to have him around but if he wants to be part of the NSW four-day set-up, he needs to come to training and play grade cricket.”
A little introspection from Zampa out of this affair wouldn’t go astray either.
Yes, clearly Zampa has been given permission by Cricket NSW to live in Byron Bay and train with local teams in Ballina rather than attend State training, but the Australian spinner might in the future consider showing his face a little more around Blues HQ.
Zampa is a busy man who spends a lot of time on the road with the Australian white ball teams, but even all-format superstars Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Steve Smith and Mitchell Starc find the time to pop in and train at NSW when they are available.
Their presence does plenty for young players who learn by watching the standard set by the greats and the professionalism it takes to reach that level.
Rookie under 19s fast bowler Charlie Anderson was glowing about what the experience of a few training sessions alongside the Test quicks had done for his development this summer.
Zampa has been an excellent mentor for young Tanveer in the Australian camp, and there’s so much Australia’s best white ball spinner since Shane Warne could teach young Blues players simply by rubbing shoulders with them at training on occasions when his schedule allows.
It’s this culture of putting back into the game that the fabric of the Australian team relies on.
Cricket Australia are not blameless either.
Oliver’s claim that CA never directed NSW what to do with Zampa is entirely believable … but maybe that’s part of the problem?
Is there actually any problem with the national selectors occasionally giving that kind of directive to a State over a particular player they want to have a look at? The State system is there to feed the national team after all and CA don’t have to apologise for wanting to be diligent in considering all options before selecting a Test squad.
It certainly would have protected NSW from an internal conflict over a tricky call and Zampa from copping criticism had CA come out and plainly said they wanted to have a look at a bloke they feel could make a difference for them in Sri Lanka.
By putting the ball in NSW’s court, CA said they would have simply picked Zampa for the Prime Minister’s XI had the Blues not selected him against Tasmania.
But in that case, they could have and should have picked young star Tanveer for the PM’s team once he was unluckily sidelined by the Blues.
Perhaps the biggest question on everyone’s lips was why did Zampa only play one match for NSW when he could have played a second game at the SCG a week later?
Surely Cricket Australia would prefer Zampa play two Shield matches rather than one if they’re seriously considering him for his first Test tour of Sri Lanka, and on Zampa’s part, playing two would better illustrate how much he wants that baggy green, provided his right shoulder was up to it.
Was it NSW selectors who stopped Zampa playing the second match once they realised there was no CA directive? Or was it Zampa’s call?
In the modern landscape, unorthodox paths to Test cricket are only going to become more commonplace.
The game needs to provide more clarity and be more accountable in the future, for the sake of Australian cricket.
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Originally published as Adam Zampa’s Sheffield Shield selection farce is a lesson for Cricket NSW, and Australia
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