Cricket NSW apologises to Adam Zampa after immense criticism following sudden Sheffield Shield call-up

Star spinner Adam Zampa has been very vocal about his desire to play Test cricket, With Nathan Lyon present, his dream of wearing the Baggy Green is still incomplete but Cricket Australia is contemplating the idea of having him in the mix in the next Test series against Sri Lanka. For the same reason, the 32-year-old was called up for the Sheffield Shield game against Tasmania, in which, he picked up four wickets.

However, multiple former cricketers and NSW board members weren’t pleased with Zampa’s call-up to the Sheffield Shield squad. Notably, the leg-spinner hasn’t been in the scheme of things as far as red-ball is concerned and Stuart Clark highlighted that and stated that ‘it doesn’t make sense’. He called out Cricket Australia for allegedly putting pressure on the NSW selectors and mentioned that they were told to do it.

“I’m going to ask Lee Germon from Cricket NSW to clear up this by writing to Cricket Australia perhaps and put my board member’s hat on because we don’t understand this. What we were told to do, and what’s coming out in the press, is exactly the opposite. They don’t make sense. Either we, as selectors, have got it wrong – did we misunderstand? But I’m pretty clear because I’ve got messages that say Adam Zampa must be in the team and there is no point discussing his selection,” Clark said.

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Former cricketer Brad Haddin also noted that Zampa shouldn’t have featured in the Shield game. He highlighted Zampa’s lack of involvement in red-ball cricket, having played his last game in February 2023.

“I’m an Adam Zampa fan … but I don’t think he should be playing this Shield game. He doesn’t come to training, he’s not part of the NSW system. I just think it sends a real bad message to our younger players in the squad,” Haddin said while speaking on Willow Cricket Podcast.

Meanwhile, the cricketer has been dropped from the NSW squad and the board has also apologised to the spinner for the week-long negative talks regarding his selection.