Ex-Oz greats call for accountability after England regains Ashes

LONDON - Former spin king Warne, Test opener Michael Slater and former captain Ian Chappell have led the chorus on calling for the selection panel, chaired by Andrew Hilditch, to be made accountable for Ashes failures and the fact Australia may drop to as low as No.4 Test nation.

Former coach John Buchanan also said the days where selectors were part-timers, some participating in decisions on players they had limited opportunity to see - particularly when 12,000km away, may be passing.

“There is bound to be a lot more talk about why Australia did not choose Nathan Hauritz. Personally, I have to say that I was staggered by the decision. I would always want to have a spinner in the side for variety’s sake, but I think this time Australia simply misread the pitch,” Warne said.

“We all make mistakes and somebody, somewhere, will have to take the blame for this one,” he said.

Slater claimed selectors got it wrong from the start of the Ashes and problems have snowballed ever since.

“The fact of the matter is that we have gone over to England with the wrong squad. We needed an aggressive off-spinner in the squad and our best option was Jason Krejza,” Slater said.

“We should have won the first Test match and we didn’t, the selectors definitely got it wrong and it has just manifested right through the series,” he added.

“The selectors need to be made answerable at the end of this campaign,” he said.

Chappell also blamed the selectors for making the wrong choices for the series, and added that Ponting was not at fault as he was given a team to play with.

“It’s never easy beating Australia, they don’t just roll over and hand you the Ashes. England are finding out they have to fight for every wicket,” former England captain Nasser Hussain said. (ANI)