Cricket: Australia fire Hilditch, Chappel from selection panel

Andrew Hilditch ha been lamblasted by fans for his role as chairman of selectors after the Ashes loss. Photo / Getty Images

Andrew Hilditch, Greg Chappell and Tim Nielsen are all high-profile casualties of the Argus report into Australian cricket.

Hilditch will no longer be chairman of selectors, with that position to become a full-time role.

Cricket Australia (CA) chairman Jack Clarke said Hilditch was not available for the full-time role because of work commitments.

Chappell, the national talent manager, will lose his role as a member of the selection panel.

Nielsen's time as Australian coach also appears about to end, because that role will also undergo significant change.

CA have invited him to re-apply for the job.

"He may well get the job, but it's a different role and in a restructure, you just don't give someone the job in a new role," Clarke said.

CA gave Nielsen a three-year contract before last summer and chief executive James Sutherland would not comment on what might happen if he does not continue in the new role.

"Let's deal with that if that's the case, but right now that's pure speculation," Sutherland said.

The most immediate results of the report, headed by former BHP-Billiton boss Don Argus, will include the creation of a new team performance manager role.

That manager will be responsible for the Australian team and its coaching and selection, as well as the national centre of excellence and state cricket performance.

The selection panel will also have a radical overhaul.

Along with a full-time chairman, there will be two independent part-time selectors.

Australian captain Michael Clarke and Nielsen, as the current coach, will also immediately join the selection panel.

The selectors will now also report directly to the new performance manager, not the board.

Apart from becoming a selector, the new head coaching role will have more authority than Nielsen's current brief.

The head coach will now oversee Australian cricket coaching.

CA's first priority will be to appoint the performance manager, but there is no time frame for when that person will be named.

Hilditch will continue as chairman of selectors for the time being.

CA's aim is for the Test team to regain its No.1 status within four years.

The Argus report also made several long-term recommendations, covering areas such as player contracts and the domestic competitions, which the CA board is yet to consider because the review was presented on Friday.

CA commissioned the review after last summer's disastrous Ashes campaign.

Argus chaired the review panel, which also featured former captains Allan Border, Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh and ex-CA chief executive Malcolm Speed.

"It's not a witch hunt, you won't find any personalities in the report, it's a genuine desire to sharpen the focus of the operational aspects of CA," Argus said.

Clarke lauded the scope and impact of the review.

"It is to the best of my knowledge, the most exhaustive and comprehensive examination of Australian cricket ever undertaken," he said.

"We didn't want quick fixes, we wanted to do it properly."

- AAP