Lives in Cricket No 12 - Ric Charlesworth

Commenting on the inevitable impact of the retirements of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Adam Gilchrist, Ric recalled one of the messages he had emphasised at the coaching forum in 1999 that had raised the possibility of his appointment as Australian coach following Geoff Marsh’s sudden resignation: ‘ignore youth at your peril!’ People were getting selected for Australia in their late twenties when it should be much earlier because players, including captains, were hanging on too long. And then those selected late hung on too long in their turn: ‘if you had a larger squad, you could get more players involved.’ Gilchrist had scarcely been youthful when he finally succeeded Ian Healy, proving he was capable of handling Warne’s spin behind the stumps, and more than a little better as batsman than the ageing incumbent. * * * * * As someone who, as much as any sportsman, had adapted to ever changing sporting realities, Charlesworth had views certain to shock traditionalists, including myself. Although aghast at the financial excesses of Indian cricket, and bemused by the unlikely backers of the IPL, he believed the kind of cricket played in that circus represented the future. Arguing that cricket should continue adapting, he disagreed with my proposition that the Twenty20 game would fizzle out, discredited by IPL extravagance and the abundance of fixtures on the English calendar. He believed the ‘beauty’ of the new form of the game was that ‘you don’t have to be the best team to win’. It was ‘much less predictable – in three hours you’ve got a result!’ The way the world is, I think Test cricket is an anachronism. I can’t imagine how in thirty years it will have the same status it has now. And I think its status has diminished in the last 96 Epilogue ‘Ignore youth at your peril.’ Geoff Marsh as a young player.