New crew told to fix schedule

CRICKET Australia’s new high performance chiefs have been tasked with helping fix the sport’s cluttered calendar.

It was announced this week that Ben Oliver, 39, and threetimes Olympic Games rowing gold medallist Drew Ginn, 44, would start work at CA just three days before the Ashes.

Langer said the scheduling was the No.1 issue that they needed to address.

“That’s a big one — [ how you fix it] is a $1 million question,” Langer said.

“It’s very, very complex. I think people have been talking about it for a long time.”

Langer praised interim Belinda Clark, who replaced Pat Howard when he was sacked last November, and will see out the World Cup.

It was decided last year that Howard’s job would be split in two although Clark was not interested in either position.

Oliver will relocate to Brisbane after spending seven years as the Western Australian Cricket Association’s high performance boss, where he worked closely with Langer when he was WA coach.

“He’s very similar to Belinda,” Langer said. “He’s meticulous in the planning, very level, very calm, very compassionate, very caring sort of person.

“He knows the game, and through his experience at the WACA, where he worked with the umpires and the women and Big Bash and player agents, he’ll be ready.

“He’ll need thick skin in his chair, as will Drew, but I was delighted. I wasn’t part of the process of him being appointed, but I was certainly delighted when I saw he was appointed.

“He’s a ripping bloke and very, very good at what he does.”

Langer denied there were communication problems between CA and the state associations when Howard was in charge.