SYDNEY, Australia, CMC – More players from the Caribbean may get a chance to play domestic Twenty20 cricket in Australia.
This follows the appointment of John Dyson to oversee scouting for New South Wales for the Sheffield Shield side through to the Under-15s.
The former West Indies coach will be a liaison between the Blues and the national selection panel in a newly-created position designed to improve communication and selection strategy for the Australian team.
The move is designed to calm the criticism of the absence of full-time selectors on the panel, following the Aussies’ defeat in the Ashes Test series during the summer in England.
Since then, Chairman of Selectors Andrew Hilditch has been appointed full-time, and Cricket Australia has agreed to fund a “talent manager” for each state to liaise with him in relation to Australian selection.
Dyson begins his new job on Monday, and is also advising NSW’s five-member selection panel about possible recruits from the Caribbean for the Australia domestic Twenty20 competition.
Cricket NSW chief executive David Gilbert hailed the appointment of Dyson to the position.
“John brings an enormous wealth of experience as a player and coach, he has been involved in the international scene for the last few years,” he said.
The Blues are heavy billing in T20s now, after they recently clinched the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 in India, where they prevailed over Trinidad & Tobago in the Final.
They had targeted Kieron Pollard for the domestic T20, but he was scooped up by South Australia.
Pollard is one of three players from the Caribbean that have already secured contracts to play in Australia at the end of the year with West Indies captain Chris Gayle set to play for Western Australia and West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo set to line-up for Victoria Bush-rangers which also contested the CLT20.
