Players' union weighs in on selection debate

The players' union has come out swinging against Cricket Australia and selector Trevor Hohns over criticism of Victoria veteran Cameron White.

After White accused selectors of treating the Australian side as a "development team" following his omission from the ODI squad to tour New Zealand, Hohns hit back and labelled White's international record as "nothing earth-shattering".

The Australian Cricketers' Association chief Alastair Nicholson today said players increasingly feared any public comment would be "met with a disproportionate response by CA".

"To reduce the discussion to a negative critique of Cameron White's career is playing the man, not the ball," Nicholson said.

"Cameron continues to give his heart and soul to the game, his state and has been recognised as a captain of his country. He deserves better.

"Personal commentary and sensitivity to worthwhile questioning does nothing to promote the constructive relationship we seek – the dialogue between the players and the administrators must be better than this."

The row started on Tuesday when White hit out at the approach of the National Selection Panel following the debut of 21-year-old Queenslander Sam Heazlett.

Heazlett was a shock addition to the Australia squad for the Qantas Tour of New Zealand for a three-match one-day series, and found himself unexpectedly elevated into the playing XI when wicketkeeper Matthew Wade was forced out by a back injury.

White had been the leading run-scorer in last October's domestic one-day competition, the Matador BBQs Cup, and was named the Men’s Domestic Player of the Year at the 2017 Allan Border Medal. Heazlett had impressed selectors with his 289 runs at 72.25 for CA’s National Performance Squad, including one century and two fifties in five innings, playing against the 'A' teams from Australia, India, and South Africa last winter.

"Right now, it seems that the Australian team at some stages is a development team," White said on Tuesday.

"For me, playing for Australia isn't about getting a chance to develop. Domestic cricket is where that happens.

"I'm a little worried, to be honest, about the importance the selectors are putting on domestic cricket. It worries me for the future of Australian cricket.

"You can get picked to play for Australia in any format out of Big Bash, really. It doesn't make a lot of sense."

Hohns hit back on Wednesday, pointing out White made his Australia debut aged 22 in the Australia team that played an ICC World XI. When selected in October 2005, White had taken 28 wickets in domestic one-day cricket, averaging 35.42 with the ball and 17.45 with the bat.

Hohns, the current Interim National Selector, was in his sixth year as the chairman of Australia's selection panel when White was called up.

White had also had a similar lead-in to the Australia team to Heazlett, scoring 106* and 59* in three one-day matches for Australia A in Pakistan.

"I'm a little bit surprised by those comments, to be quite honest," Hohns told reporters in Adelaide on Wednesday.

"The Sheffield Shield has been well-documented as being very important to us in Australian cricket – selectors, everybody.

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"And then younger players – I think he just needs to remember that he was a very young man when he was given his first opportunity in one-day cricket.

"I don't think there is any disparity there at all, to be honest.

"Cameron has had plenty of opportunities ... he has had plenty of opportunities in the past and it's probably fair to say performed okay without being earth-shattering."

White played four Tests, 88 ODIs and 47 Twenty20s for Australia, averaging 34.52 (ODIs) and 32.80 (T20s) across the limited-overs formats with the bat. He took 12 ODI wickets at 29.25, but did not bowl in 69 of the matches he played.

His last appearance in Australian colours came in January 2015 in an ODI against England in Hobart.