The decision to recall Tim Paine after seven years in the wilderness has been hailed as a masterstroke but there are still rumblings among the states.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Tonk hears officials in state land remain unhappy Paine was plucked from the fringes of the Sheffield Shield.
They have a very difficult case to prosecute, given the role the wicketkeeper played in Australia's 4-0 hammering of England in the Ashes series. The Tasmanian did everything one could ask of a gloveman: he hardly made a mistake behind the stumps and made vital runs in the middle and lower order.
The dissatisfaction is not with Paine's output but the selection process. Their worry is how selectors could pick someone who was not playing regular Shield cricket at a time when Cricket Australia's high performance manager, Pat Howard, was emphasising the importance of performances in the state competition. In other words, the Shield was being devalued.
This view was strongly voiced by former Victorian quick Dirk Nannes towards the end of the Sydney Test.
"I don't know if the end justifies the means. The means of that selection I don't think that's a road you can go down too many times," Nannes said on ABC Grandstand.
"I reckon they've used up a lot of credits in making that selection, because it put a lot of people off-side. Lets be fair, he jumped a lot of people to get into that side at the start of the summer."
In defence of selectors, even as far back as last April, when Paine was considering retirement, his name featured highly in the depth charts CA sends to the states about players of national interest.
They were also not spoilt for choice with the three leading contenders Matthew Wade, Peter Nevill and Alex Carey all failing to fire.
Code wars
The Big Bash returned serve powerfully against the Australian Open on Wednesday night, retaking the lead in the TV ratings spat that has broken out between cricket and tennis this summer.
An average five-city metro audience of 773,000 tuned into the second session of Wednesday's BBL thriller between the Adelaide Strikers and Hobart Hurricanes on Network 10, putting it ahead of the 686,000 average who watched the night session of the tennis on Seven according to data provided by OzTam.
Cricket representatives were quick to spruik their nightly win over the tennis and have now finished ahead in the ratings for two of the first three nights of the Australian Open.
But Network Seven were also left satisfied after day three of the tennis, having garnered 3.9 million viewers across the entire day. They peaked at 1.7 million during the match between Nick Kyrgios and Viktor Troicki, taking in metro and regional viewers.
The 'source of truth'
One of the arts of fudging about one's sporting prowess is not to make outlandish exaggerations but to pump yourself up just enough to impress but at a level low enough where your claim cannot be easily verified.
As many clubbies around the country will attest, that is no longer possible in this sport thanks to MyCricket, the online portal used at community and top levels to manage competitions, players and their stats.
MyCricket, set up in 2001 under the banner ResultsVault, is coming up to the 10-year anniversary of its partnership with Cricket Australia, which adopted the program for grass roots competitions through to the top level.
"We like to regard it as the source of truth," Andrew Walton ??? who,along with David Macaulay and Peter Macaulay, founded the system ??? told The Tonk.
To those wanting to cheat the system, Walton has this warning.
"It's impossible to alter in your favour, you'll be caught out," Walton, the chief of the company, InteractSport, which runs MyCricket, said.
"Within every scorecard there are so many stories. Somebody will remember somebody from somewhere, some time, it's not that hard."
Some of the ploys Walton has come across include the addition of a middle initial and the changing of a Mc to a Mac. Or, as the Tonk revealed last year, you could just change the numbers yourself which one Sydney grade cricketer was busted doing.
No bite for Zampa
Adam Zampa did not have the happiest return to the national team but his fortunes headed south before he had even bowled a ball.
The leggie was speaking at a press conference Cricket Australia was using to publicise the Field of Flavours international food market run outside the MCG during the first match.
But there was to be no taste test for Zampa, who watched on as his teammates and members of the media sunk their teeth into beef enchiladas and satay chicken pizzas. He's a vegan.
