Ricky Ponting wants Australia skipper Tim Paine to become national selector

In the wake of latest accusations of miscommunication against selectors and the recent series defeat to India, former skipper Ricky Ponting has opined that Test captain Tim Paine should be made a national selector. The spotlight is firmly on the selectors after Australia lost to India in a Test series at home for the very first time. Australia’s top order completely misfired as India won the series 2-1.

While the Indian batsmen scored as many as five centuries, there was not a single one from the Australian side.  For the first time in 130 years, Australia batsmen failed to score a ton in a home Test series of at least four matches. India’s top six batsmen scored 1,547 runs at an average of almost 37 each while their Australian counterpart could only manage 1,129 at a modest average of less than 27. Picking the likes of Peter Handscomb and Mitchell Marsh further made things worse for the selectors.

Recently, Nathan Coulter-Nile slammed the team management and the selectors poor communication from after he failed to find a spot in the ODI squad for the series against India. Allrounder Ashton Agar had also voiced the same opinion after being ignored for the upcoming series.

All these have piled a huge pressure on the selection panel and now Ponting wants Paine to be a part of it. Australia’s current selection panel consists of Trevor Hohns, national coach Justin Langer, and former Australian captain Greg Chappell.

Would like to see the captain become a selector

Australian captains have been a part of the selection panel in the past. The likes of Steve Waugh and Michael Clarke had played the role of a selector at various points. But the captains stopped being a part of the selection after Clarke resigned from the panel after Mickey Arthur’s sacking as coach in 2013. However, Ricky Ponting now wants the captain to have a say in the selection matters.

“I said when I was playing, as captain I was desperate to be an actual selector,” Ponting told cricket.com.au. “More (for) communication reasons than anything else, it wasn’t because I didn’t always get the team I wanted.

“To be accountable and to be able to communicate well among your players, I thought it was vital that the captain could pass on his views to the players directly. I don’t know if that’s happening now or not. I’d like to see the captain become a selector,” he added.

But unlike Ponting, Tim Paine thinks on a different line. He recently said that he is in no mood to take additional responsibility. “I’ve got enough on my plate at the moment,” Paine said when asked if he’d like to join the panel with the chairman of selectors.

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