The Cricket Australia board has "eased rules governing the eligibility of players holding dual passports to compete in domestic tournaments as part of a scheme to strengthen its talent base," according to REUTERS. The initiative's aim is to "lure talented cricketers such as the Sydney-born opening batsman Sam Robson, currently the leading run-scorer in the top tier of the County Championship in England, back to Australian domestic cricket." Robson, who "holds a British passport owing to his Nottingham-born mother," has represented Australia at the U19 level but is "also eligible to represent England in the future" (REUTERS, 8/16). In Sydney, Chloe Saltau reported New South Wales "has a plan to coach Robson, the 24-year-old opener and leading run-scorer in the country championship, into the Australian system so he can audition for the state side." Cricket Australia said in a statement, "CA wants as many quality cricketers playing in its domestic competition as possible" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 8/17). In Melbourne, Chris Barrett wrote "there is a wider agenda" behind the push from New South Wales, whose new administration, headed by Chair John Warn and CEO Andrew Jones, has "made no secret of a goal to target the diaspora of players raised in the state and have them return to Sydney" (THE AGE, 8/16).
