Zampa selection by New South Wales divides club and country board in Sheffield Shield over the left-field choice.
Zampa selection divides Cricket Australia and NSW divided over left-field choice of player selection.
After state selector Stuart Clark claimed that they were compelled to choose the legspinner under the board’s directives, Cricket Australia (CA) has maintained that there was no instruction for New South Wales (NSW) to select Adam Zampa for the previous round of Sheffield Shield matches.
In order for Zampa to partner Chris Green, who does not have a NSW contract after choosing to go freelance earlier this season. Promising 23-year-old legspinner Tanveer Sangha was left out of the lineup for the match against Tasmania at the SCG. Because he resides in Byron Bay, Zampa does not train with NSW in between Australia commitments.
Zampa played in his first Sheffield Shield game since February 2023, and there were rumours that he would be considered for a tour of Sri Lanka in the early part of next year. Over two innings and 40.2 overs, he took 4 for 140. Although Zampa’s participation in the final round of Shield games prior to the BBL versus Western Australia is still up in the air. He has expressed his desire to return following the Tasmania match.
Ben Oliver, CA’s chief of high performance, stated last week that the states have complete control over domestic selection decisions.
“The national selection panel are in regular contact with each state association, but ultimately, the selection for each Sheffield Shield match or domestic matches is very much the realm of the state association,” Oliver said. “The selection panel are very pleased to see all players playing domestic cricket and have as many options as possible for each of our upcoming series.”
It is believed that during the Zampa debate, CA asked NSW if they intended to pick him against Tasmania. If they didn’t, the national selectors would have included him in the Prime Minister’s XI squad to play India in Canberra. This despite the fact that it is a pink-ball day-night match.
Clark, the former Australia quick who is also a NSW board member, said. “Quite frankly, I don’t understand what the comment of Cricket Australia is. We didn’t need to have a robust debate about his selection. It was a foregone conclusion that he was in the team. I don’t know where this comment comes from.
“I’m going to ask [NSW chief executive] Lee Germon to clear this up by writing to Cricket Australia perhaps. And put my board member’s hat on and say we don’t understand this,” Clark added. “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 – I don’t know, did we misunderstand? – but I’m pretty clear because I’ve got messages that say Adam Zampa must be in the team. There is no point discussing his selection.”