SELECTORS get the results they deserve. I had no sympathy with the England cricket team when they were refusing to pick Andrew Caddick, nor do I shed tears over their their current one-day struggles.

The selectors' treatment of Durham's Paul Collingwood has been appalling, although I have no doubt that acting captain Alec Stewart has much to do with it.

On the evidence of form there was no justification for preferring Stewart's Surrey teammate Ben Hollioake to Collingwood, while drafting in Owais Shah from outside the squad also sent out the wrong signals.

As it happens, Shah's undoubted talent has come to the fore. But Collingwood was the original choice. He was taken out of a county environment in which he was thriving and given one game in which Stewart gave him two overs against Inzamam-ul-Haq in full cry. He then batted in awkward circumstances, lasting five balls before being given out lbw to a ball which he edged. He was then dropped for two games.

Stewart is a fine cricketer but he couldn't captain a paddle steamer. Why, for example, has he been batting ahead of Michael Vaughan, whose recent form had demanded a place in the top three?

England say they are planning for the 2003 World Cup, but by that time Stewart will be 40 and no matter how fit he keeps himself that's too old for international one-day cricket.

We can only assume that the selectors have decided to stick with him because there is no obvious successor. But they should do more to groom one, and they could do worse than take a look at Durham's Andrew Pratt.

WHAT fine words from Steve McClaren when he was confirmed as Middlesbrough boss: "One thing I have learned at United is that when you win one trophy it is quickly forgotten and you get on. It will be the same here."

Is he aware that the Riverside trophy cabinet does not require huge quantities of Dura Glit in order to keep its contents gleaming?

When McClaren does bring in some silverware it will not be quickly forgotten by success-starved Teessiders. Pubs from Urlay Nook to Runswick Bay will be drunk dry, there will be dancing in the streets of South Bank and carnivals on Redcar beach.

The sceptics will not yet be salivating at the thought, but by common consent Boro have got one of the best young coaches in the business.

That won't necessarily make him a good manager, as his predecessor at Manchester United, Brian Kidd, found out.

But it's another bold move by Boro chairman Steve Gibson, which deserves to bring success.

SO, we have a new sports minister, for what it's worth.

The role has always seemed to carry about as much clout as a John Prescott left jab, so why should former Sheffield trade unionist Richard Caborn have any more impact than Kate Hoey?

According to Caborn: "Tony (Blair) wants to move the whole question of sport up a gear or two."

Oh yes? While a whole swathe of rain forest must have been destroyed to create the newsprint devoted to the election build-up, I don't recall reading too much about the importance of sport.

It's amazing that politicians believe endless talk about reviving the NHS is a surefire vote winner, yet none seem to realise that if they encouraged more participation in sport there would be fewer unhealthy people.

We must reserve judgement on Caborn and his boss, the new culture secretary Tessa Jowell, but they will inevitably be hauled into the Wembley farce, which will give us a clearer idea of their worth.

In her Wembley dealings Kate Hoey fell foul of the appalling Ken Bates, which took her up several notches in my estimation.

She was also pretty hot on the sell-off of school playing fields, which is still going on, and her enthusiastic support for our athletes at the Olympics and Paralympics was impressive.

She was a huge improvement on the clueless Tony Banks, who was Blair's first sports minister.

If the improvement continues with Caborn I might start to believe Blair has realised that sport is not an irrelevance in the creation of a healthy, motivated, creative society.

WHILE the year of the Tiger continues at the US Open, I don't suppose Mr Woods will be chucking his ball to his caddy if there's a lake behind him at Southern Hills.

When Raymond Russell did that in the English Open last weekend, the caddy missed the ball and it ended up in a lake, never to be found.

Russell had marked his ball on the green and intended that his caddy should clean it, but its watery grave ended up costing him a two-stroke penalty and £4,000 in prizemoney.

Such things just never happen to Tiger.

Published: 15/06/2001