Cricket Australia defends decision to contract http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MG-Johnson-c1945 – Cricket News Update
Defending the decision to include Mitchell Johnson in the list of contracted players for 2012-13, Cricket Australia has explained that the paceman was already on a two-year contract which he had been granted in 2011 by the former chairman of selectors, Andrew
Hilditch.
Hilditch’s panel disbanded in the aftermath of last year’s Argus review, and the new contract system, recently revealed after the CA announced the contract list for 2012-13, is based on tighter criteria, with the number of players granted central contracts
reduced from 25 to 17-20.
With cricketers such as Test opener http://www.senore.com/Cricket/George-Bailey-c1480 absent from the list, the inclusion of Johnson, who hasn’t played for the national side since sustaining a foot injury during Australia’s Test tour of South last year in November,
has emerged as a point of contention for many.
However, the governing body has clarified that in addition to the fact that the 30-year-old was already on a contract, he had also played a sufficient amount of matches to rack up rankings in all three formats of the game.
“... he was on a two-year contract, so he was already contracted,” explained Cricket http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Iftikhar-Ali-Khan-Pataudi-Nawab-of-c64075 Howard. “But he did play all the Tests in the lead-up to that period before his injury, and he did play across all three forms.
So the reality is he got some ranking in all three forms.”
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Howard-c63371 also went on to add that the selectors had gone through a “rigorous process” in order to determine which players made it to the contract list, based on their current form, and expected performance in the future.
Barring the injury which saw him missing out completely on his home summer, the left-arm pacer has a solid record, having played a total of 47 Test matches for the national side, with 190 wickets to his credit, in addition to 168 scalps from 107 ODIs.
“Look I think he would have,” said national selector http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Robert-John-Inverarity-c85980, when questioned about whether Johnson would have made the list even if he didn’t have a two-year- contract. “We have very high expectations that he will come back and come back extremely
well. His record is very good. The consideration was that he already had a contract for this period. That was a given.”
Inverarity pointed out that despite his current indifferent form, the pacer had the ability to perform outstandingly, both as a bowler, and as a number 8 batsman. He also went on to express the hope that the left-armer would deliver, after having been included
in the 17.
Johnson has been included in Australia’s squad for their ODI tour of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Leicestershire-c807 on June 21, during which he registered figures of 0 for 27, in addition to scoring an unbeaten 21.
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