‘We were told he had to play’: State selector says Blues were forced to pick Adam Zampa

The controversial selection of Adam Zampa for a recent Sheffield Shield match has left Cricket NSW and Cricket Australia at loggerheads, with Blues selector Stuart Clark declaring that a directive was given that the leg-spinner must be picked ahead of others.

As former NSW and Australia stars criticised the decision to parachute Zampa in for the Blues’ clash against Tasmania that wrapped up on Wednesday, in a bid to press his claims for Australia’s Test tour of Sri Lanka next year, there is still doubt about whether he will feature for NSW in the next round of Sheffield Shield games.

The issue first flared up when former Test captain Mark Taylor slammed the decision to pick Zampa ahead of fellow leg-spinner Tanveer Sangha, given Zampa had not played a first-class match since February 2023.

On Thursday, Cricket Australia high-performance manager Ben Oliver said no directive had been issued to the Blues to pick Zampa for the fixture, which Tasmania won by 55 runs. Zampa took match figures of 4-140.

“The national selection panels are in regular contact with each state association but, ultimately, the selection for each Sheffield Shield match or domestic matches is very much the realm of the state association,” Oliver said.

In a statement on Saturday, Oliver said: “That process was consistent with this most recent round of Shield cricket.”

However, NSW Cricket board member and selector Stuart Clark gave a different version of events when interviewed on ABC Radio on Saturday.

Adam Zampa’s Sheffield Shield selection has been questioned.Credit: Getty Images

“The problem I have with it … when it came to Adam Zampa, we didn’t have a discussion because there was no need to – we were told he had to play,” said former fast bowler Clark, who played 24 Tests for Australia.

“Quite frankly, I don’t understand what the comment of Cricket Australia is because we didn’t need to have a robust debate about his selection. His selection was a foregone conclusion that he was in the team.”

Clark said the issue would be escalated to Cricket NSW chief executive Lee Germon.

“I’m going to ask Lee Germon from Cricket NSW to clear up this by writing to Cricket Australia perhaps and put my board member’s hat on because we don’t understand this,” he said. “What we were told to do, and what’s coming out in the press, is exactly the opposite. They don’t make sense. Either we, as selectors, have got it wrong – did we misunderstand? But I’m pretty clear because I’ve got messages that say Adam Zampa must be in the team and there is no point discussing his selection.”

Cricket NSW head of cricket Greg Mail and Australia’s chief selector, George Bailey, spoke to each other before the Sheffield Shield match about Zampa’s inclusion. CNSW has been told that Zampa is in the frame to be selected for the Sri Lanka tour.

If Zampa wasn’t picked to play against Tasmania, he would have been selected for the Prime Minister’s XI to face India in Canberra. Day one of play was washed out at Manuka Oval on Saturday and the teams will play a one-day match on Sunday.

Zampa, who had featured in just six first-class matches since the end of 2017, is no guarantee to play another red-ball game for NSW this season. A decision will be made early next week after consultation between Zampa, CNSW and CA.

“If he wanted to be part of the four-day set-up, then he probably needs to be around and come to training and play a bit of grade cricket and things like that,” Clark said. “He’s a quality bowler and there’s no reason he couldn’t be successful.”

NSW board member and former Test opener Ed Cowan said this week he did not like the selection, while Brad Haddin and Alyssa Healy felt uneasy about it.

“It’s a hard one to answer. I can see maybe why they’ve gone down that path … but you are kind of taking the piss a little bit [out of] of the baggy blue,” Healy said on the Willow Talk Podcast.

Haddin added: “I’m an Adam Zampa fan … but I don’t think he should be playing this Shield game. He doesn’t come to training, he’s not part of the NSW system. I just think it sends a real bad message to our younger players in the squad.

“The week previous he came out and said I don’t train with NSW. Part of being in a squad is helping develop everyone around, and he’s a senior player. I think NSW have really let their standards drop there.”

Taylor also hit out at the decision.

“I just think that this selection is a very bad one … obviously he [Zampa] doesn’t really want to play first-class cricket,” Taylor said.