Cricket Australia insist marketing has absolutely nothing to do with a likely Test squad announcement on Monday.
CA cited logistics as the logic behind the date, as it seeks to get the likes of Mitchell Johnson cherry ripe for December 4 when a four-Test series against India starts at the Gabba.
National selectors will meet in Sydney on the weekend to settle on the squad that will assemble in Brisbane on Friday for the series opener.
Mark Waugh, added to the selection panel earlier this year, suggested on Fox Sports that he would have preferred to pick a squad after next week’s Sheffield Shield games.
“But that’s not a decision the selectors have made,” Waugh said.
“Cricket Australia have made that. It’s for marketing purposes.”
Waugh’s words triggered memories of the preliminary 17-man squad named before the 2010-11 Ashes series, when players reluctantly fronted a gala event pushed upon them by CA.
But CA team performance manager Pat Howard says Waugh admitted he got it wrong on Friday, and Australia are following the same model that led to a 5-0 Ashes thumping of England.
Johnson, Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle were all rested from the final round of Shield games last year, setting the platform for the trio to play all five Tests against England.
CA is desperate to again manage the minutiae when it comes to preparing the pacemen enlisted for Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.
The next round of Shield games starts on Tuesday, with CA wanting to finalise a Test squad before then so it can confirm who needs to be rested or restricted to light duties.
However, Howard noted on Friday that “if the selectors feel they need more time to select the squad, that option is always there”.
Responding to suggestions that players on the cusp of the Test squad deserve another first-class fixture to impress, Howard said Rod Marsh and his colleagues would not be swayed by one game.
“The selectors look for consistent performances over a period of time and particularly strong performances in pressure situations,” Howard said.
Michael Clarke’s selection or non-selection will be one of the major talking points of the squad, with the hamstrung captain already ruled out of the Shield game.
