Australia split selection panel for T20 improvement

BENGALURU (Reuters) - Cricket Australia (CA) named Trevor Hohns as the full-time chairman of its National Selection Panel on Friday, effecting a structural change to improve the rankings of the underperforming Twenty20 side.

Hohns, who has acted as interim chairman since Rod Marsh resigned in November after five consecutive test defeats, ex-captain Greg Chappell, former batsman Mark Waugh and head coach Darren Lehmann have all been retained as selectors.

Hohns, whose contracts runs until February, 2020, Chappell and Lehmann will select the squad for the test and the 50-overs formats while the coach and Waugh will form a two-member panel to choose the squads for the shortest Twenty20 format.

While Australia are ranked second by the International Cricket Council in both tests and the ODIs, they are seventh in the table for the Twenty20 sides.

"We believe this new structure will enhance the performance of the selection function and deliver clearer accountability around selection and, at the same time, offers the board the opportunity to review a two-person selection panel in the T20 format, and how well this works," CA Chairman David Peever said.

(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)