CAMERON WHITE. No Jason Krejza until the last Test. Cameron White. Beau Casson hung out to dry for the heinous crime of being left-handed. Cameron White. Bryce McGain at the age of 36. Cameron White. Stuart Clark relieved of his services. And Cameron White. These were the most puzzling decisions made during the loss of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to India - but explanations from the selectors have been nil.
Australian Rugby League selection chairman Bob McCarthy picks up his phone when his picks for the Test side beggar belief. True, if he doesn't like the line of questioning, he'll tell you to rack off and hang up. But he will have his say first. When a Nick D'Arcy is booted off the Olympic team, head swimming coach Alan Thompson, and AOC boss John Coates, will take a call within five rings. But in cricket, still claiming to be the national game, the selectors never explain themselves.
Unanswered questions remain from the loss in India: Why wasn't Krejza picked before the fourth Test? For the third Test, at least, when it became clear White wasn't up to it. How was he picked ahead of Clark at Nagpur? Is being a left-armer such a crime for Casson? Is it right that Ponting wanted Krejza for the first Test, but selectors overruled him? How much accountability is there for Andrew Hilditch and his fellow panel members: Victorian Merv Hughes and Tasmanian pair David Boon and Jamie Cox?
This trio always answer such questions with "the chairman is the only person who can comment".
So The Sun-Herald left a message on Hilditch's mobile in the hope of his performing a selection post mortem of India. Suspecting he would not be in a mad rush to reply, requests were also made through the official channels at Cricket Australia. The first call was placed to CA's public affairs officer, Matthew Slade.
"Andrew will be in and around the team in the lead-up to the first Test but I'm not sure what his movements are before then, so it's probably best to go through Lachie Patterson, because Lachie is actually the media manager who will be on duty with the team at that time," Slade said.
A conversation was had with Patterson, CA's communications adviser, including the question: is Hilditch off limits for one-on-one interviews?
"Andrew isn't off limits but he's trying to hold down a full-time job as a lawyer at the same time as he's doing all this," Patterson said. "Getting any time of his is very difficult. Your best bet is to shoot me through an email with what you're after and all I can really do is forward it on to him and see whether he's available."
The email was sent to Patterson. The wait was spent wondering how, if Hilditch was so snowed under by his work as a lawyer, he was keeping track of the NSW versus New Zealand game at the SCG, where the once-rated Nathan Hauritz and promising young spinner Steven Smith were playing? Or the South Australia versus Western Australia clash at Adelaide Oval, where Daniel Cullen continued his resurgence? Or Victoria's Ford Ranger Cup tussle with Tasmania, where Brad Hodge cracked three figures? What is Hilditch's modus operandi? Checking the scores in the paper?
And then! Australia's first Test team was going to be announced at the SCG and the man fronting the media would be - Hilditch! A taxi gunned its way to the ground. The TV cameras were all set up downstairs. They were told to move because Hilditch was upstairs. And then he appeared.
Hilditch is a neat and inoffensive man with a quiet demeanour. Not a hair out of place. Business shirt and purple tie. He places his shiny black briefcase next to the wall and quietly reads out the names of the 13-man Australian squad. He speaks so softly those lunching in the members' dining hall have to be told to shush.
Hilditch then fielded few questions. The guts of it was that Australia was embarking on an important lead-up to the Ashes. He said selectors sometimes get it right and sometimes they get it wrong.
Is that really enough? Wasn't it bleeding obvious that playing White as the first-choice spinner for three Tests was going to end in tears? The Sun-Herald wanted a forum away from the TV cameras to ask Hilditch about India. About Cameron White. About no Jason Krejza until the last Test. About Cameron White. About claims Beau Casson was hung out to dry because left-arm spin was not wanted in India. About Cameron White. About Stuart Clark being relieved of his services for no apparent reason. About Cameron White.
No talkies.
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