Cricket NSW discards successful talent scout

Alan Campbell worked with Cricket NSW for 20 years full-time - 34 years overall - but is now hoping Indian Twenty20 franchise Kings XI Punjab will be able to keep him on as their high-performance manager.

Campbell - whose program ushered the likes Michael Slater, Michael Bevan and, more recently, Usman Khawaja to the peak of the sport - sought work elsewhere in Australia after he was told last April that a restructure at CNSW rendered his job obsolete, but he hasn't been picked up.

''I'm on hold at the moment,'' Campbell said yesterday. ''I probably spend more time coaching guys like Joe Denly from England than any local players now. It's just the way it is at the moment.

''I do know about identifying and developing talent and I've built a model that works. I've got a proven high-performance model that's been built and developed over 20 years and I've now been able to expand it to a global model that incorporates business ideas. I'm networking my next role, as they say.''

Campbell might follow the path of yet another fine Australian cricket brain going to waste, batting coach Trent Woodhill, who was last month named as New Zealand assistant coach.

Woodhill was the former NSW under-19s coach who helped develop the likes of David Warner, Steve Smith, Phillip Hughes and Nic Maddinson. Woodhill secured work with the Delhi Daredevils as performance analyst, as well as video analyst and fielding coach for New Zealand.

The highly regarded Australian was recently made assistant to John Wright at the Black Caps.

''He's certainly a guy who Wrighty is keen to have involved,'' New Zealand Cricket boss Justin Vaughan said upon the appointment. ''He heard good things about him and spoke to him on the phone a couple of times. When I was in India there wasn't a single player or person involved that didn't speak highly of Trent. He is universally well regarded.''

Campbell said he had plenty of thoughts about where Australian cricket had faltered, but didn't want to jeopardise future opportunities to become part of a rejuvenated system. ''Whatever resources you have need to be part of a strategy,'' he said. ''You've got to have a strategy before you put a structure in place. I'm not so sure that that's the case [in Australian cricket] at the moment.

''When I look at what's happened recently, it's really been brewing for a few years now. Jack Gibson had a saying 'Winning's a lousy teacher'. It's been too easy to disregard the work, effort and energy that many people have put in and expect for things to continue on successfully.''

Among Campbell's views on player development, he said it was vital to have the best coaches working with young players.

''My view is that it's preferable to have your best people involved strategically along the pathway,'' he said. ''What I did at CNSW was adopt the French soccer system, which worked out years ago that it was best to have your top coaches working at younger levels.''

Campbell's production line of successful players has proven his value to the game in Australia.

''I'm proud of all the work that was put in place,'' he said.''It was our role to find the right people and develop them. There are guys like Warren Smith, Michael Slater's coach, who were part of that network and created a pathway that was in place and was successful.''