Cricket Australia Selectors Chair Rod Marsh is "gone and other senior figures are set to have their futures reviewed as part of an exhaustive internal probe into one of the worst periods in Australian cricket history," according to Andrew Wu of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. Hours after CA CEO James Sutherland said that he would not quit, Marsh "became the biggest casualty of Australia's deepening cricket crisis on Wednesday when he handed in his resignation, effective immediately." The CA board held a telephone conference on Wednesday night with Trevor Hohns expected to be named interim chair. Hohns held the job in the late '90s and early '00s "during a golden era." Former captain Steve Waugh said last month that "he would be interested in the top job if it arose, while Ricky Ponting has also been floated as a contender." With Marsh out, the "scrutiny is set to intensify" on Team Performance Manager Pat Howard, who is out of contract next year, coach Darren Lehmann and Sutherland (SMH, 11/16). REUTERS' Ian Ransom reported Marsh announced a month ago that "he would step down in mid-2017 but said on Wednesday he would vacate the role immediately as the fall-out from Australia's fifth successive test defeat continued." He said, "This is my own decision and no one within Cricket Australia has pressured me or even suggested that I should do this." Marsh, along with fellow selectors Mark Waugh, Hohns and Lehmann, had been "condemned for a number of selection issues this year" (REUTERS, 11/16). The AAP reported Sutherland, Lehmann and Howard had all "recently expressed their support for Marsh to see out his tenure." Sutherland sent a "firm message" on Wednesday morning that Marsh was "going nowhere after Australia’s dismal innings-and-80-run loss to South Africa at Bellerive." Sutherland: "Rod's ... like everyone else -- they're doing the best job they can and working very hard at it" (AAP, 11/16). In a separate piece, the AAP reported Sutherland has said that his future is a matter for CA’s board and admitted his organization needs to ask all manner of questions after a "very significant fall from grace." He said, "Ultimately that's a decision for the board if I'm the right person. Things have been highlighted that we need to explore. We'll take responsibility and try to understand things better" (AAP, 11/16).
