So long, Andrew Hilditch, and thanks for all the turkeys

Big umbrella policies: Andrew Hilditch is a big loss to England cricket

Today is a sad day for England cricket (and not just because of the team’s performance in Delhi). A legend of the English game has made his last meaningful contribution to the success of the Three Lions: Andrew Hilditch is to step down as the selectorial supremo of Cricket Australia.

Hilditch has named what will surely be his squad as Australia prepare to face South Africa in a two-Test series and it features a signature Hilditch gamble, this time on a teenage quick. Although the name may suggest a pornographic actress from the 1970s, Pat Cummins is in fact an 18-year-old right-armer from New South Wales. Despite having just three first-class games, and a back injury that caused him to miss the trip to Sri Lanka under his belt, Hilditch insists the selection “is not a gamble.”

Classic Hilditch. In his five-year reign of terror as part-time chairman of selectors, no punt has been too risky, no hunch too esoteric for the man who grabbed wildly at post-Warne spinners as if he were on a timed trolley dash of Australia’s slow bowling supermarket (well, slow bowling corner shop, anyway). The names of Xavier Doherty, Bryce McGain and Steve Smith will hold cherished memories for fans of other nations. The abandonment of Simon Katich, who had outscored everyone in Test cricket bar Alastair Cook since his 2008 reinstatement in the team, was another gem. His contribution to England’s 2010-2011 Ashes win was topped only by Cook and, arguably, Mitchell Johnson.

But Hilditch was more than just a pick-‘em-with-a-pin merchant. He displayed an admirable range for the types of media disaster into which he could blunder by missing the third Test in 2009 to walk his dog on the beach as the team fought the tide of a rampant South Africa. As if to pre-empt bar room gripes across the nation, Hilditch actually did pick the groundsman: step forward (and turn off that lawnmower) Nathan Lyon.

With the Argus report calling for a full-time selector, Hilditch steps down to return to his legal practice in Adelaide. Insurance law’s gain is English cricket’s loss. Andrew, you will be missed.