Boof open to adding extra selector

Australia coach Darren Lehmann is open to the idea of adding another selector to the National Selection Panel (NSP) in order to cover the ever increasing volume of cricket.

The current NSP that consists of chairman Rod Marsh, coach Lehmann and selectors Trevor Hohns and Mark Waugh will be revamped in June 2017 when Marsh steps down from his post after three years in the top job.

Cricket Australia Head of Team Performance Pat Howard says he won’t rush into finding Marsh’s replacement, but he could be looking for an additional member to help cover the expanding workload selectors face.

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“There’s so much cricket going on and one of the big things the selectors, and the chairman of selectors, have always said … players must be able to see a selector at each game,” Lehmann said on Wednesday.

“With the schedule the way it is it’s tough currently, so whether they extend it or not that’s up to Cricket Australia.”

As it stands it’s virtually impossible to have a selector at every elite cricket match during the summer.

Lehmann and one other selector will be with the Australian team at all times, meaning at least one Sheffield Shield match during the first half of the summer - like the second round starting on November 4 - will not have a selector present.

It’s also a logistical nightmare once the KFC Big Bash League starts, with Test matches and double-headers stretching the NSP all over the country.

State National Talent Managers fill the void of absent selectors, but a full-time NSP member at each match would be the ideal scenario for CA and help share the travel demands of the panel.

The first round of Shield cricket this summer, to be played in Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth, will be attended by the three full-time selectors with a special focus on the MCG.

Victorian paceman Peter Siddle is set to play his first first-class match since his last Test against New Zealand in February after suffering back stress fractures.

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Siddle has made a successful return to cricket in the Matador BBQs One-Day Cup with the Bushrangers this month, getting through two matches and bowling “pain free”.

With the third fast-bowling spot, behind incumbents Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, still up for grabs, Lehmann says one Shield match might be enough for the selectors to pick the 61-Test veteran.

“For someone of his experience, yes,” said Lehmann when asked if only one Shield match would be enough to pick Siddle.

“I’m sure selectors will look at his performance in the Shield game and see how he goes.

“He’s obviously been a very good bowler for Australia over a long period of time so hopefully he gets through that and see how we go from there.”

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While memories of Australia’s 3-0 whitewash at the hands of Sri Lanka are still fresh in the minds of Lehmann’s charges, and the upcoming tour of India on the horizon, the Australia coach said the focus is solely on playing on home soil, beginning with South Africa in the first Test starting November 3 in Perth.

“There’s been a lot of talk about India and everyone’s talking about India, we’ve got a pretty important six-Test match summer at home,” Lehmann said.

“We’ve got to play well at home and that’s the first priority for all of us as coaching staff and players to play well at home again.

“We’ve done really well the last few years at home but there’s two quality oppositions (South Africa and Pakistan) and we’ll have to play really well.”