Cricket NSW has broken ranks, declaring Cricket Australia’s baggy blue to baggy green pipeline isn’t making sense.
Adam Zampa’s return to the Sheffield Shield has gone down like a lead balloon in NSW, with a Blues selector breaking ranks after high-profile stars spoke out over the spinner’s selection.
The World Cup winner had not played a Shield match since February 2023 before taking four wickets in a loss to Tasmania this week.
The rare appearance was seen as Zampa’s first opportunity to press his case for a Test debut on Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka next year.
But it was met with criticism from within the NSW cricket fraternity, when the circumstances behind Zampa’s return were less clear.
“I can see maybe why they’ve gone down that path ... but you are kind of taking the p*** a little bit (out of) the baggy blue,” long-time NSW star Alyssa Healy said on Willow Talk.
Ex-Test star Brad Haddin bluntly said Zampa should not have been playing.
“He doesn’t come to training, he’s not part of the NSW system. I just think it sends a real bad message to our younger players in the squad,” he said.
“The week previous he came out and said I don’t train with NSW. Part of being in a squad is helping develop everyone around, and he’s a senior player. I think NSW have really let their standards drop there.”
Now the apparent demand behind Zampa’s selection has been revealed by Blues selector Stuart Clark.
Cricket Australia high-performance boss Ben Oliver claimed Zampa’s return to the NSW side — at the expense of regular spinner Tanveer Sangha — was not influenced by national selectors in the conversations that took place.
The Blues disagree.
“We didn’t have a discussion because there was no need to — we were told he had to play,” Clark said on ABC radio.
“Quite frankly, I don’t understand what the comment of Cricket Australia is because we didn’t need to have a robust debate about his selection. His selection was a foregone conclusion that he was in the team.”
The former Test bowler is the second Cricket NSW board member to criticise the Zampa call after former opening batsman turned director Ed Cowan already questioning the call.
Clark will now push Cricket NSW chief executive Lee Germon to “clear up” the situation by writing to Cricket Australia.
“Because we don’t understand this,” Clark said.
“What we were told to do, and what’s coming out in the press, is exactly the opposite. They don’t make sense.
“Either we, as selectors, have got it wrong — did we misunderstand? But I’m pretty clear because I’ve got messages that say Adam Zampa must be in the team and there is no point discussing his selection.”
Clark, for his part, has no issue with Zampa himself beyond the fact that the spinner is not involved with the squad.
Zampa has generally been unavailable for the Sheffield Shield because of his increasing white-ball commitments.
“If he wanted to be part of the four-day set-up, then he probably needs to be around and come to training and play a bit of grade cricket and things like that,” Clark said.
“He’s a quality bowler and there’s no reason he couldn’t be successful.”
It is unclear if Zampa will be picked to play for the Blues against Western Australia from Friday.
Speaking before Clark’s remarks, Zampa said he is willing to push himself to see if he can earn a Test debut before he retires from cricket.
“It’s something I’d like to do and challenge myself at. If I got to end my career and it didn’t pan out that way then I’d be okay with it,” the 32-year-old said.
“I might look back one day and feel like maybe I didn’t give it a 100 per cent crack.
“I feel like playing these games and putting my hand up for the Sri Lanka tour and being keen for that is fine.
“It’s important if I am on that tour that I have a bit of mileage in my legs and it’s not a huge shock to the system, because Sunday (against Tasmania) was.”
