Mark Waugh slams Australian selection panel

Mark Waugh has slammed the current Australian selection panel and claimed that there is a bias towards picking players from Queensland. Waugh, who is being pushed as the New South Wales candidate for the national selection panel, revealed that he had been baffled at Andrew Symonds playing ahead of Simon Katich on Australia's tour of Sri Lanka last year and even termed it as "one of the worst decisions" he had seen. He also felt that Nathan Hauritz and James Hopes were undeservedly given chances ahead of Stuart MacGill and Cameron White.

In a column for The Sun Herald, Waugh wrote that half the selection panel was from Queensland (Allan Border and Trevor Hohns) and said that "people subconsciously favour what's close to their heart and home."

"I think there are a couple of Queenslanders in the past season or two who have been lucky to gain a spot in the one-day or Test teams," Waugh continued. "Andy Bichel is probably the exception, but I can count three players and situations that would support the theory that the bananabenders are receiving a leg-up.

"Though Queensland have been the benchmark in recent years in domestic cricket and that inevitably gives you more oomph at the selection table, there is that lingering thought that in 50-50 calls, the Queenslanders are getting the rub of the green."

Speaking about Katich's exclusion from the side after making a brilliant hundred in the Sydney Test against India, Waugh said: "Admittedly, Symonds's offspin may have been handy on the spin-friendly pitches but Katich can bowl decent left-arm spinners and the position was primarily for a batsman.

"The next selection, which was a major surprise, was the inclusion of Nathan Hauritz in the tour party to India ahead of the second-best spinner in world cricket, Stuart MacGill. Hauritz is a pretty good one-day bowler but he was averaging about 50 or 60 with the ball in first-class cricket at the time and to think he could be Australia's second spinner on such an important tour was a selection totally from left field."

Waugh was also surprised at James Hopes being picked for Australia's current tour of New Zealand. "I played against Hopes last season," he said, "and I couldn't see him wearing Australian colours. Despite Hopes's recent improvement, I believe Cameron White could consider himself most unlucky. He has better overall figures than Hopes and led Victoria to a Pura Cup win last year."

The strength of the current Australian team, Waugh believed, allowed the occasional blunder and he also acknowledged that "by and large the selectors have done a good job." Yet, he thought it was a time for change so that other states could get "a fairer run for their money".