Ashes review set to herald Aus cricket shake-up: report

Melbourne, Jan 31 (PTI) Australian cricket faces theprospect of a far-reaching shake-up when the country''s Boarddecides next Tuesday to review the disastrous Ashesperformance, a report said today.

An independent chairperson is being sought, preferablyfrom a corporate background, to assess the wider problems inthe game''s structure in Australia that led to the crushing 1-3home series defeat against England.

Former captain Steve Waugh has been mooted as a possibleoverseer or contributor in the review, according to AustralianAssociated Press.

According to the report, CA power brokers will deliberateon how to get to the bottom of the Ashes mess, besidesendorsing detailed plans for next summer''s city-based Twenty20competition which could cause the greatest shift in Australiancricket since World Series Cricket revolution of late 1970s.

"What we''re keen on is someone external with expertisethat would allow them to manage a review, and we''re looking ata range of people across corporate Australia," a CA spokesmanwas quoted as saying in the report.

"We''re looking for someone with some grunt, who can givethe review the credibility it needs, and who can makerecommendations that are respected."

The ultimate goals of an expanded T20 contest are togenerate enough money to free CA from its state of utterreliance on Indian finance, the report said.

In that sense, the new league is part of a push to takecricket into the realm of European soccer, where showpieceinternational matches and tournaments occur less often amidthe unending treadmill of club fixtures played by cosmopolitanteams, it said.