Cricket Damien Fleming photos by, Getty Images

Earlier you mentioned the current lack of a selection panel – did you put your hand up for the job?

No, I’m pretty happy just working in the media at the moment. What I do like about these new structures at Cricket Australia, however, is that there seem to be pathways for everything now. That new general manager job is an excellent example. That’s something for administrators to aspire to. To be the CEO of cricket in this country is an exciting role, a big role, and an important role.

I’m also happy to see that the chairman of selectors is now a fulltime role, so you’re going to get well paid to select the most important team in Australian sport. With a national talent manager in Greg Chappell and the various state talent managers, it’s a big job coordinating all their views. I think it would be a very exciting job to identify the next breed of Australian players, then work with the coach and the captain to get them into the Test team. I think it’s a far, far more appealing job now than it was when Andrew Hilditch was doing it part-time.

I’ve got a few concerns with the new coaching role, however. In some ways, the head coach role sounds like too big a job, to me. If you’re coaching all three forms of the game, you’re looking after the Centre of Excellence, and you’re trying to keep an eye on the states and their programs – I’m not sure one person can do all that. Maybe we need a head coach to look after the Test team, then the head of the Centre of Excellence could coach the one-day team, while the most successful state coach – the bloke whose team has won the Big Bash ‒ could look after T20 cricket  ... It’ll be interesting to see what happens there.

Did Don Argus speak to you for his much talked-about report?

No, I didn’t get a gig on the review. But I’m very happy with what he’s come up with. You’ve got to get the structures right, then get the right people in. Things should happen from there. The word that was used in that report was “complacent”. I think we were dominating world cricket simply because we had great players; I don’t think our structures were as good as everyone thought. It just reiterated to me that the time to review things is while you’re doing well. Then, in the bad times, you don’t drop as low as we did.

Talking of structures, what about the traditional structure of players moving through grade cricket, into Shield cricket and then onto the Test team? Are we too reliant on academies and centres of excellence these days?

Nope, I think you definitely need these development programs and the various academies. I think the jump from grade cricket to state cricket’s too big, so I like the State Second XI competition. If the best grade players are only playing one and two-day cricket, then that Second XI comp exposes them to four-day cricket, while the academies upskill these blokes, giving them the ability to compete in state cricket as quickly as possible. So yes, I like the structures. We’ve just got to get the right people in these structures, working towards the one goal of getting us back to the top ranking in the Test, one-day and T20 formats. Of course, that’s easy to say, but it’s not always the easiest to get going.

Speaking of getting the right people on board, what are your thoughts on the selection of Pat Howard to the new general manager’s role?

Yeah, don’t really know much about Pat. Obviously an impressive union player who’s gone into administration at a young age. And that’s the thing that stands out to me – clearly he knows where he’s heading. It doesn’t really bother me that he’s never been involved in elite cricket, because I think it’s mainly about having that vision, about knowing where he wants cricket to go and about delegating the right roles to people who do know cricket.

You should put your hand up for the Wallabies’ coaching job ... Surely the theories of bowlology would transfer?

Well, you know, it’s not just about cricket, the old bowlology. It’s a life, it’s a business, it’s a sport, it’s absolute crap ... But I’m going to keep persisting with it, don’t worry about that!

‒ Aaron Scott