NEW coach Justin Langer will become Australia’s main T20 selector as part of changes announced yesterday by Cricket Australia.

Mark Waugh, who resigned earlier this year, won’t be replaced by a new selector, with Langer to instead take on Waugh’s former role as chair of T20 selection.

A three-man panel of Langer, Trevor Hohns and Greg Chappell will handle Test and ODI cricket, while the coach will take responsibility for the T20 side and be supported by Hohns and Chappell as well as coaches and talent managers from Australia’s domestic teams.

Under the previous structure that was introduced last year, Waugh led a two-man panel with former coach Darren Lehmann to pick Australia’s teams for T20 internationals.

The structure for Test and ODI selection effectively remains the same, with Langer filling Lehmann’s role alongside selection chairman Hohns and national talent manager Chappell.

Australia had risen to near the top of the ICC’s T20 rankings earlier this year, which CA’s team performance manager Pat Howard says vindicated Waugh’s role as a selector focused on T20 cricket.

“Having a selector focus on the T20 format for the past 18 months was viewed as a success … and we will look to continue this in a slightly modified way,” Howard said.

“This sees Justin take on additional responsibility as both the head coach and lead selector in Twenty20 cricket, as we build towards the ICC World T20 in Australia in 2020.

“Justin has performed a similar role previously while (he was) coach of the Perth Scorchers, and has a wealth of knowledge around the Big Bash League and its players.

“The changes also see the State Talent Managers and Big Bash League coaches involved in the selection process for Twenty20 cricket, as we consult our experts in Australian cricket.”

The selection panel’s next task will be to decide on Australia’s Test squad for their October series against Pakistan.