Selection dilemma

A SCHOOLYARD-style player draft could determine who plays for Australia and Australia A in next month’s unprecedented Ashes audition in England.

Coach Justin Langer has been simulating the concept with his assistants, where paper-scissors-rock decides who gets the first pick and then two “captains” are given 30 seconds to make selections.

The four-day tour match in Southampton, starting on July 23, is the final chance for fringe players to impress selectors.

The Ashes squad will be picked straight after that match, just days before the first Test at Edgbaston on August 1.

Langer said there were “different trains of thought” on how to decide who represents Australia and Australia A.

“The Australian A guys might all be playing well together and want to stick together in one team, and they play another Australian XI,” Langer said.

“Or we might mix it up and have a bit of a draft system and get a bit of a competition with it, that’d be pretty cool.

“I’ve been doing that with the coaches and with the selectors – paper-scissors-rock (to see who picks first) and it’s a great exercise.

“I’ve done it 3-4 times. You can pick anyone in Australia, who would you pick?”

Australia A will play fourday tour matches against Sussex and England Lions before facing Australia. It means 30 Aussies will be playing red or white-ball cricket in the United Kingdom next month.

Other selection ideas include pitting Australia’s best batsmen against its best bowlers, or picking a team of “probables” against a team of “possibles”.