Katich and the fall of Australian cricket

I’ve been watchin’ with no shortage of morbid fascination the slow disintegration of all things Australian in recent times, but even the attack of the Krab on Friday took me by surprise. It was brutal, it was honest, and it was a defining moment in the fall of Australian cricket.

There will be those that say his outpour of raw emotion and rich invective was deserved and for want of a better word, “gutsy”. There will also be those that see no shortage of sour grapes at the Katich breakfast table that week. Here on the Outside Edge, we just cracked a beer, sat back and enjoyed the show. Here’s a few points that caught the eye…

When you talk about money you get the best in the business for paying. If you pay peanuts you get monkeys…

Wow. Talk about swinging for the fences. Don’t think he’ll be getting a great reference from Hilditch and his cronies. Cliches aside, he does have a bloody good point. Whilst in New Zealand, a country with a fraction of the resources the ACA have at their disposal, a part-time selection panel would be understandable, in Australia you’ve got to wonder where the f— all the money’s going. Yes, cricket’s a business, but it’s key capital are the players.

The facts are a week or two before the Ashes a squad of 17 was named. In my opinion if you can’t know what your best 11 is a week or so before our biggest Test series that we play in the Ashes, that to me reeks of indecision.

Too right. Talk about the proverbial writing being on the wall. The English normally waited for the series to start before starting the selection conveyor belt (one almost felt any man who could hold a bat was a decent chance of getting a call from the selectors in ‘89).

A four-minute conversation is probably not enough for someone that’s been part of the organisation for 12 years.

A gut reaction to this comment from sporting stalwarts would be “damn right”. But as Stu Clarke (why the fuck were they talking to this guy?) went on to rightly point out, how long is enough? Every time some institutional New Zealand company closes it’s doors the MSM roll out a series of teary eyed employees waxing lyrical about their 35+ years of service. But that doesn’t change the fact that the company could no longer afford to employ them. Brutal yes, but short of saying “shit, our bad, you can have your job back” there ain’t much right any boss can say when swinging the axe.

Katich himself has a good whinge about there being no recourse short of initiating legal proceedings. Wait…what? Imagine if every time Tom, Dick, or Harry got dropped the lawyers got involved. Talk about a bloody circus. There’s isn’t any recourse, you’re right Katto, but nor do I think there should be. To allow for such would ironically only serve to undermine what little credibility the ACA selection panel have even further.

All in all there is no shortage of bitterness from this classic Aussie battler, but that shouldn’t be allowed to dilute the weight of his comments. A wise man once said that the fish does not rot from the tail, and the impending full review of the ACA should only to reinforce this.

And what about the elephant in the room? Maybe the next generation of Australian selectorial whimsy will think twice before hoisting the future captain up by his neck in the changing room…