Former Australian captain Greg Chappell has hit out at criticism from former first-class cricketers Theo Doropolous and Dirk Nannes at the mostly-young squad, saying that experience is overrated.
According to News.com.au, Doropolous and Nannes had said that restrictions to the number of players over the age of 23 is the sole reason for Australia's current problems.
Although he is agreeable to a certain extent with the duo, Chappell, however, said that he believed that experience is overrated, as a lot of players who have been around for any length of time and are still not progressing in their own game may not be the right players at all.
According to the former India coach, even a young player can create experience at a higher level if he has enthusiasm and a desire to learn, adding that it is imperative that there are more than nine batsmen under the age of 23 in domestic tournaments given that they have only six states.
Concerned that Australia's next generation of cricketers is not being tested properly at the domestic level, Chappell said that this might explain why Australia's production line has faltered recently, although he added that Cricket Australia has taken a proactive step to address this issue by boosting its Under-19 cricket, The Futures League and the Australia A program.
Chappell further said the restrictions have had a profound effect on the number of Under-23 players being contracted by the states, adding that the issue needs to be resolved quickly as the pain Australia is currently experiencing will be nothing compared with what they might expect in the future.
