Rod Marsh joked about it but New Zealand Cricket have promised there will be no “stitch up” next week in retaliation to the Blacktown pitch debacle which ruined the Black Caps’ preparation for this summer’s Test series with Australia.

NZ officials insist there will be no dodgy wicket for the Sheffield Shield match between NSW and Western Australia at Christchurch’s Lincoln University, which is a key plank in Australia’s preparation for next month’s return bout.

With no official tour game planned, the shield fixture is the closest thing to a warm-up game leading into the two-Test series. Test wicketkeeper Peter Nevill, Nathan Lyon and Adam Voges are playing in the match, which will be their only chance to adjust to NZ conditions.

The rest of Australia’s Test squad will be either playing in the one-day series in NZ or taking part in shield games in Australia.

The Black Caps’ preparation for the Test series in Australia was jeopardised after a four-day tour game was called off after less than four sessions due to the unsatisfactory nature of the Blacktown pitch.

The surface, described as a “jigsaw with half the pieces missing” by NZ coach Mike Hesson, was also likened to one expected in the Middle East – hardly ideal before a Test at the lightning fast Gabba.

Nevill, Lyon and Voges, however, can rest easy confident they will get a decent hit out next week with their states. The Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln University, is not Christchurch’s premier venue but is internationally accredited and is home to NZC’s High Performance Centre.

“My understanding with Blacktown is it’s difficult to get up early season there, I  think everyone regrets having scheduled there,” NZC’s cricket manager Lindsay Crocker said.

“Lincoln is a different can of beans, those difficulties don’t exist in Lincoln.”

NZC hold no grudge with Cricket Australia over the Blacktown episode, saying their counterpart had worked hard to find alternate preparation for the visitors.

“I’m not sure we were deliberately stitched up, we just couldn’t get a match,” Crocker said. “It’s not our intention to stitch anyone up here.

“I don’t think we will see anything untoward.”

Crocker said that while conditions will not be identical to Wellington’s Basin Reserve, the venue for the first Test, the pitch for the shield game would be a “typical South Island New Zealand wicket”.

“It is a good quality NZ-style pitch so it doesn’t have the massive turn of Asia or the high bounce of Australia,” Crocker said.

“Its characteristics will be easy paced and will last.”

While Australia have been dominant at home in Test cricket, they have struggled on the road with losses in England and the Middle East in the past 18 months.

Pitches across the Tasman are expected to provide more assistance to the bowlers than the benign decks rolled out for the home summer.

Australia’s preparation is far from ideal but Marsh did not believe it would be a factor in how Steve Smith’s men will fare in the Tests.

“I’m not too concerned about it because the way cricket is these days you don’t get too many tour games anyway and it’s just over three hours away,” Marsh said.

“We’re going to have a lot of our blokes in the Test team in the one day side, so they’ll play some cricket. I’m quite relaxed about it to be honest.”

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Test player of the year: David Warner. Photo: Mark Metcalfe Superstar: All-rounder Ellyse Perry. Photo: Daniel Kalisz

One-day specialist: Glenn Maxwell. Photo: Ryan Pierse

Warner: Awards a reward for turning life aroundBest dressed on the red carpet

If getting the vice-captaincy was a sign of just how much David Warner has matured as a person then claiming the top two awards at the Allan Border Medal was recognition of how far he has progressed as a player.

Warner arrived at Wednesday night’s ceremony in Melbourne thinking Steve Smith was a shoo-in for the top gong – and probably more. His judgement for that was not as sound as his judgement with the willow. He instead claimed the Allan Border Medal, and was also crowned Test player of the year, on a night that featured first-time winners in every category.

Even though the left-hander has been a fixture of the national team in all formats for four years this was the first time he had been honoured for his performances for Australia. The 29-year-old’s only previous gong was winning the Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year.

The votes for the Allan Border Medal come across all formats, weighted to Test, and are sourced from two groups: players, and media representatives and umpires. Warner’s votes were evenly split between the two, showing the admiration he had earned from both, for a year in which he scored a total of 1990 runs in all formats at an average of 56.86, with nine centuries and six half-centuries.

While runner-up Smith outscored Warner for the period, and scored an additional century, it was the deputy who triumphed.

The peak of Warner’s year came at the start of the summer in the Tests against New Zealand. Doubts about his capability to cope with a fractured thumb that had not fully mended were dispelled as he began the series against the Black Caps in commanding fashion, with 163 and 116 at the Gabba and 253 at the WACA Ground.

What pushed Warner in front for the Test award and top awards was earning top votes for the rain-plagued Sydney Test, for his century on the final day.

Left-arm paceman Mitch Starc finished third behind Warner and Smith for Allan Border Medal and Test Player of the Year. Paceman Josh Hazlewood and batsman Adam Voges completed the top five.

Starc was set to be rewarded for his superb white-ball form last summer, most notably in the World Cup, with One-Day Player of the Year. He nevertheless emerged without a gong after teammate Glenn Maxwell overtook him in Australia’s last one-day series for the voting period, away to England.

Starc did not poll a vote in any of his four matches. Half of Maxwell’s 28 votes for the year came in that series, taking him just past Starc.

The left-armer would have been a deserved winner, having taking 41 wickets at 16.27 in one-dayer. That is not to say Maxwell was undeserving; averaging 46 at a strike-rate of 135.86, and also contributing with the ball and in the field, showed how much the 27-year-old had, like Warner, matured.

All-rounder Mitch Marsh upstaged Smith and Warner to finish third for the one-day award.

There was no Twenty20 award, given Australia only played one match for the period.

Southern Stars captain Meg Lanning was denied a third consecutive Belinda Clark Medal by the team’s others superstar player, Ellyse Perry. The all-rounder, who scored more runs and took more wickets than anyone else in the period, comfortably claimed the top individual award for women’s cricket in Australia. Seamer Rene Farrell finished third.

Perry’s batting was at its strongest in one-day cricket, while her fast-bowling was pivotal to the Stars winning last year’s Ashes series away to England, most notably her nine-wicket haul in the Test.

The first recognition of Adam Voges’ astonishing Sheffield Shield season last year, when he plundered 1358 runs at an average of 104.46, came when he was given a Test debut at 35. The second came in him being votes by his peers as Domestic Player of the Year, ahead of Western Australia teammate and South Australia’s Callum Ferguson.

Redbacks batsman Alex Ross, whose proficiency sweeping spinners saw him surge to prominence in the Matador Cup and Big Bash League, won Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year. The 23-year-old claimed the award, also peer-voted, ahead of Victoria batsman Travis Dean and WA paceman Joel Paris.

Allan Border Medal 1: David Warner 2: Steve Smith 3: Mitch Starc 4: Josh Hazlewood 5: Adam Voges 6: Glenn Maxwell 7: Nathan Lyon 8: Chris Rogers 9: Mitch Marsh 10: Pat Cummins

Test Player of the Year 1: David Warner 2: Steve Smith 3: Nathan Lyon

One-Day Player of the Year 1: Glenn Maxwell 2: Mitch Starc 3: Mitch Marsh

Belinda Clark Medal 1: Ellyse Perry 2: Meg Lanning 3: Rene Farrell

Domestic Player of the Year 1: Adam Voges (WA) 2: Michael Klinger (WA) 3: Callum Ferguson (SA)

Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year 1: Alex Ross (SA) 2: Travis Dean (Vic) 3: Joel Paris (WA)

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The Sydney Kings have been consigned to their first wooden spoon in five years after a lacklustre loss to the Crocodiles in Townsville on Wednesday night.

In a battle of the the NBL’s two bottom-ranked sides, the Kings led 48-46 at half-time but, as has been the case all season, faded away over the last two quarters to go down 96-88.

The Kings have not finished last since the 20-11 team which went 8-20 in the club’s first season back in the league after a two-year absence.

Sydney have slumped to a 5-19 record while Townsville are now out of reach at 9-15

With former NBA veteran Josh Childress playing a prominent role, the Kings started the match strongly and held a 26-25 advantage after the first quarter.

Both teams displayed deficiencies on defence in the second stanza but Sydney managed to keep their noses in front, leading by two at the main break.

Crocodiles imports Jordair Jett and Omar Samhan stepped up in the third period to give the home side a 72-70 buffer. Kings guard Marcus Thornton hit a rare three-pointer close to the buzzer, just his fourth in a stretch of 26 shots from beyond the arc, to keep the visitors in the hunt.

Townsville forward Leon Henry took out teammate Mitch Young in the fourth quarter as they went up for a rebound with Young taken off the court for treatment after his head hit the hardwood heavily.

Corey Maynard dropped a long bomb to give Townsville a 79-72 lead midway through the fourth stanza.

Childress, with strong support from centre Angus Brandt and guard Jason Cadee, kept the Kings in the contest down the stretch, drawing level at 83-83 inside the last four minutes.

A Cadee three put Sydney in front with two minutes left but they trailed soon after when Thornton was stripped one-on-one by Jett. Samhan then drained a three to propel the Crocs to victory.

Childress led all scorers with 27 points while Brandt (13) and Cadee (18) also played strongly while Jett’s 24-point haul was the top effort from Townsville.

Sydney travel further north for a Friday encounter with the Taipans in Cairns before ending their season of woe with a trip to Perth next Friday, a home clash with the Wildcats the following Wednesday and another trip to Townsville in the final round.

Townsville go to New Zealand for a clash with the Breakers on Friday, are away to Illawarra before hosting Cairns and the Kings.

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GUILTY: Michael Varnum was found to have deliberately hit an opposition player twice to the head with his bat.A MAGISTRATE has lambasted former police officer Michael Varnum for his cockiness and arrogance after finding himguilty of twiceintentionally hitting an opposing player over the head with a cricket bat.

Varnum shook his head Newcastle Local Court on Wednesday as he was found guiltyof assault occasioning actual bodily harm after Jewells Tavern Beavers player Peter Lalor needed nine stitches and weeks of medical treatment after being hit during a match against Varnum’s Merewether side in the B5 City and Suburban competition last February.

Magistrate Robert Stone rejected Varnum’s claim that his bat had accidentally come into contact with Mr Lalor after the pair collided mid-pitch as Varnum was attempting to take a run.

Instead, the magistrate said Mr Lalor’s teammates, who played the game for fun, had given frank and honest evidence about how Varnum had lifted his bat above his head and cracked Mr Lalor on his skull as the victim lay prone on the wicket.

“They knew it for what it truly was –an intentional striking of their teammate,’’ Mr Stone said.

He had earlier remarked on Varnum’s testimony: “The accused was very sure of himself, almost cocky. He came across to me as being arrogant about his ability leaving the impression he was the best cricketer in the team.’’

Outside court, a tearful Mr Lalor said he was happy with the conviction and was still playing the game he loved.

“The worst part is my son has stopped playing but he will get there,’’ Mr Lalor said.

It was when Mr Lalor, the Beavers captain, was bowling to Varnum that the incident took place.

Varnum had hit a shot to cover and had taken off for a run when the pair collided mid-pitch.

Mr Stone said although there were some differences in evidence given by players, he found that as Varnum stumbled momentarily, Mr Lalor had fallen to the ground.

“At that point in time the accused used his bat with his right hand, raised it to shoulder height and with the face of the bat hit Mr Lalor to the top of the head and then repeated the strike of the bat to him again while stepping over him,’’ Mr Stone said.

“…it was an intentional act on each occasion.’’

Mr Stone was critical of Varnum’s testimony, who told the court he could remember when Mr Lalor had dropped a shoulder into him.

“He could remember what he said to the bowler, he could remember the collision and stepping over the bowler, he could remember grounding his bat at the crease, yet has no recall of what he did with the bat as he stepped over the bowler,’’ Mr Stone said.

“…he does not want to admit that in the heat of the moment that the bat was used to strike Lalor.’’

HURT: Peter Lalor in hospital after the incident.

Mr Lalor, who was supported in Newcastle Local Court byfamily and teammates, shed a tear after the guilty verdict was read out.

“The Beavers cricket team is the best cricket team in the world and we just play it to have fun and something like this should not be associated with cricket or sport at all,’’ he said.

MrLalor said he had recovered from his injuries and just wanted to get on with life.

“I don’t want someone else to get hurt the way that I got hurt,’’ he said.

“It was awful for my family and my kids so I just didn’twant him to hurt someone else.

“And I want people to be able to play sport for fun.”

Varnum, who played top grade for Merewether when hewon the Jimmy Dickinson Memorial Trophyfor best first grade batting average in 2006-07,did not wish to comment.

But he said he would be appealing the decision.

He is a former Newcastle police sergeant while some of his teammates are still serving officers.

Mr Lalor said he didn’t wish to get involved in what would occur to Varnum’s possible future playing cricket.

“I don’t think many people would want someone who does an act like that on a cricket field, or any sporting field for that matter,’’ he said.

“That is up to them.

“I have had enough of it now so I am happy for them to deal with it.’’

Sentencing submissions will begin in March.

Volunteer lifesavers helped with the rescue once the exhausted kayakers were safely on the beach.A group of 17 kayakers, some as young as five, was rescued on Australia Day in Frankston by lifesavers on a jet-ski.

Two lifesavers patrolling just north of Frankston, at Kingston, came across the group about 4.30pm, about 90 minutes after a strong easterly wind change created rough waters on Port Phillip Bay. They found three kayaks capsized and another had sunk.

The lifeguards took the kayakers 150 metres back to shore one by one. It is understood they were several families with children from five to 15 years old.

President of Frankston Life Saving Club, Tim Cutrona, said volunteer lifesavers helped with the rescue once the exhausted kayakers were safely on the beach.

Life Saving Victoria manager Greg Scott said it was important for beachgoers to check weather forecasts.

“People need to understand beaches can be dangerous, even on days of perfect beach weather,” Mr Scott said.

Nobody was injured but ambulance officers treated two kayakers.

Kayaking is one of the fastest growing sports in Australia, with 129,700 people participating, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics last year.

However, Maritime Safety said there have been two deaths involving paddle craft since July and 10 in the past five years, accounting for a third of boating-related deaths.

Acting director Adrian Mnew​ warned that inexperience was often a factor in the spate of accidents.

“Always wear a lifejacket,” he said. “Know your capabilities and don’t put yourself at risk by going beyond them.”

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The Central Coast Mariners are demanding a public apology from Fox Sports following on-air criticism of a tackle made by their captain, Nick Montgomery, that resulted in a red card during Saturday night’s 2-1 loss to Western Sydney Wanderers.

Montgomery was criticised by members of the network’s commentary team, who inferred that the Mariners midfielder was reckless in his challenge on Wanderers forward Golgol Mebrahtu.

Former Sydney FC captain Mark Rudan was especially scathing of Montgomery’s tackle, saying he showed no duty of care towards a fellow professional, particularly one who has worked hard to rebuild his career. Mebrahtu has only just returned from successive knee injuries.

Wanderers coach Tony Popovic was also furious with the nature of the tackle, but the Mariners issued a statement saying they were flooded with feedback from supporters about the negative television commentary.

“On behalf of our members, players and staff the Central Coast Mariners have today issued a formal complaint to Fox Sports Australia and Football Federation Australia in regards to inappropriate comments against our club and players following our most recent match against Western Sydney Wanderers,” the statement read.

“The Mariners have been inundated with members expressing their concerns and demanding that the club takes appropriate steps to ensure that the integrity of the Mariners and its players are protected against unwarranted and totally unfounded comments.

“This was also raised officially by the club’s supporter groups who recently held meetings with Mariners chairman Mike Charlesworth.”

Central Coast Mariners chief executive Shaun Mielekamp said the club felt they needed to act accordingly after such a reaction from their fans.

“When we receive such a clear message from our members that the club needs to take a stance we are obliged to do so,” Mielekamp said. “There are lines that we believe have been crossed and feel a public apology is the most appropriate outcome as the club must stand up for our players who are unfairly targeted. If these comments were made by a referee there would be an immediate fine but seems that those rules don’t apply when talking about a players integrity.”

Despite being contacted by the Mariners, the FFA said they had no position on the issue and believed commentators and fans were entitled to fair and reasonable debate on contentious issues.

“FFA has received a submission from Central Coast Mariners about comments which have been interpreted as unfair towards a Mariners player,” an FFA spokesperson said. “Commentators expressing their opinions are generally not subject to FFA’s jurisdiction. Responsibility for the opinions aired rests with the commentator and the broadcaster.

“FFA does not wish to inhibit the fair and reasonable debate about incidents in A-League matches, as this forms part of what makes the competition so interesting for fans.”

Fox Sports was sought for comment but had not responded at the time of publication.

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Talent: The first ARTEXPRESS exhibition opens on February 5 at Western Sydney University. It will be followed by other exhibitions including at Maitland Regional Art Gallery from September 10. Picture: Max Mason-HubersAMARA Woods’ personalreflectionon mental illness has earned her a place in one of the state’s most prestigious art exhibitions.

Intricate: Amara’s work.

The Swansea High student, 17, has had her work selected for ARTEXPRESS, a showcase of the best projectscompleted by NSW visual arts students as part of last year’s Higher School Certificate.

“I was jumping around my house, I was so happy and felt very proud of myself and the work I put in,”Amara said of being included in the exhibition.

“All the sleepless nights, the stress and the effort had finally paid off.”

Amara used her experimental artwork to exploreher grandmother’s experience of living with schizophrenia and how it had touched the rest of her family.

“It’s been a very strong influence in my life,” she said.

“It’s something that is always present at barbecues and family get-togethers, but it’s not something that we talk about very often.

“My relationship with my grandmother is also very strained at times, in our conversations there’s a list of things that we avoid talking about.We don’t bring it up.”

Amara used oil and acrylic paints, charcoal pastels, inks, pencils andfelt tip pens to create “intense, intricate” drawings across a piece of arches paper.

“I stitched wool into the paper and drew knitting needles and patterns to represent the deterioration and unraveling of relationships and the mind,” she said.

Amara also madetwo concertina books, to represent how the subject ofschizophrenia could be “closed off”in family discussions.

She said the work was neither positiveor negative.

“It’s more just about conveying what it’s been like for me,” she said.

“I think my family were interested to see that I was talking about it and expressing how I felt.

“My mum draws a lot of pastel works as well so she was offering me advice.”

Amara has always been an enthusiastic artist and as a primary schoolerwould spend lunchtimedrawing in her sketch pad.

Amara willbegin a Bachelor of Biomedical Science at the University of Newcastle this year and is considering transferring at a later stage into medicine.

She will continue practicing art as a hobby.

Students from Lambton, Whitebridge, Maitland Grossman, Merewether andTomaree high schools also had their work selected.

The Nauru detention centre. Photo: Angela WylieA leading international human rights group has blasted Australia’s asylum-seeker policy as “abusive” and says a serious rethink is needed to restore the country’s standing globally.

Human Rights Watch, one of the world’s most prominent rights campaign organisations, has said in its yearly report that Australia, while having a solid record on civil and political rights, was failing to respect international standards for asylum seekers and this was taking “a heavy human toll”.

The report also blasts new counter-terrorism laws, which had bipartisan backing from the major parties, as “overly broad and vague” – though that broadside was also aimed at a range of other Western nations.

In a statement accompanying the report, the organisation’s Asia director, Brad Adams, said that Australia had done “little to redeem its reputation” regarding asylum-seeker policy in 2015 despite international criticism.

“Australia needs to seriously rethink its abusive refugee policies and take steps to restore its international standing as a rights-respecting country.”

The report highlights a number of developments it says merit criticism, including the Coalition government’s “personal and unsubstantiated attacks” on Australian Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs.

It also singles out continued boat turn-backs, the gagging of Immigration Department contractors, the payment of cash to people-smugglers, the failure to resettle asylum seekers on Papua New Guinea, and evidence of sexual assaults on Nauru.

Mr Adams said Australia’s new counter-terrorism laws raised human rights concerns, particularly with the lack of legal safeguards in the new legislation that strips citizenship from dual national terrorists.

“Measures such as stripping citizenship from dual nationals without basic legal safeguards are major steps backwards for Australia,” he said.

The wider report, scrutinising human rights practices in more than 90 countries, said the “politics of fear” led many countries to wind back civil and political rights.

“Fear of terrorist attacks and mass refugee flows are driving many Western governments to roll back human rights protections,” said Kenneth Roth, the organisation’s executive director. “These backward steps threaten the rights of all without any demonstrated effectiveness in protecting ordinary people.”

Mr Adams said Australia’s own shortcomings undermined its own ability to call for stronger rights protections abroad including through its lobbying for a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2018.

And he added that Australia rarely tackled other countries on human rights abuses, particularly nations with whom it cooperates on border protection or has a significant trade relationship.

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Salim Mehajer leaves Auburn council chambers on Wednesday. Photo: Dominic LorrimerLess than six months since his “wedding of the year”, Salim Mehajer and the Auburn City Council convened for potentially the final time.

The council met on Wednesday to respond to last week’s announcement by Local Government Minister Paul Toole that he was giving the council 14 days to show why it should not be suspended.

Its planning decisions will come under a review by Sydney silk Richard Beasley.

An attempt by George Campbell, a member of the council’s minority bloc – the “poor four”, as Cr Mehajer has dubbed them – to welcome the minister’s move and ask that innocent councillors be spared punishment was a non-starter.

In the end, the council’s “super six” instead voted for a compromise solution.

In a response drafted by its lawyer, the council resolved to be on its best behaviour, co-operate fully with Mr Beasley’s inquiry and to refrain from all major planning decisions if allowed to keep running.

But there were some subtle swipes at the state government and muted protestations on the way.

The deputy mayor spoke against the suspension but only briefly.

“We don’t understand what the concern is,” Cr Mehajer said, regarding Mr Toole’s reasons for moving to suspend the council.

Hicham Zraika, a member of the council and Cr Mehajer’s ally, offered the most strident defence of the council’s much-criticised majority grouping.

“It would be laughable if those who are viewed to be guilty are exonerated,” he said.

Mr Zraika was last month expelled from the ALP for disloyalty. He had earlier been suspended for “unworthy conduct”, including allegedly falsifying meeting minutes. He is appealing the decision.

The council’s mayor, Le Lam, said she welcomed the inquiry but suggested it was orchestrated by council’s minority group.

“Giving information to the public and the media is how the whole thing instigated,” she said. “Now, by the end of the day, everything can come out fully.”

The minister’s letter made reference to only one case of alleged wrongdoing by the council, the sale of a council carpark to Cr Mehajer in a private deal that Fairfax Media revealed was apparently discounted by up to $5 million off its open-market value.

“It’s got to be more than that,” Cr Mehajer said. “The letter just doesn’t guide us.”

Cr Mehajer also placed on record that the car park, which a family company has applied to turn into a 100-unit complex, was in Lidcombe not, as Mr Toole had said in his letter, in Auburn.

A range of councillors, many of whom, like Cr Mehajer, have local property interests, have also been revealed to be connected directly and through relatives in a range of business ventures that have not always been disclosed to council.

The council’s next meeting is scheduled for February 17.

It remains to be seen whether it will take place.

There is no timeframe for Mr Toole to respond to council’s submission.

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Damien Tudehope, who will chair the parliamentary hearing into the ICAC. Photo: Supplied ICAC Commissioner Megan Latham gives evidence at a parliamentary inquiry last year. Photo: Daniel Munoz

The chair of a parliamentary committee preparing to quiz anti-corruption chief Megan Latham over the investigation of Crown prosecutor Margaret Cunneen has issued questions to her weeks before the hearing, signalling a fiery line of inquiry.

Liberal MP Damien Tudehope has taken the unusual step of writing to the commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption asking her to respond to questions – including the amount spent on legal fees on the Cunneen matter – by February 4.

Mr Tudehope sent his letter to Ms Latham on January 15 without first discussing the move with other members of the parliamentary oversight committee, as would normally be the case.

It comes after Ms Latham clashed with Mr Tudehope’s committee in August last year, when she refused to answer questions about the Cunneen investigation, arguing the matter was beyond the committee’s powers.

The committee is preparing to grill Ms Latham and senior commission officers on February 11 following a scathing report by the Inspector of the ICAC, David Levine, into its bid to investigate Ms Cunneen.

The ICAC sought to investigate an allegation, denied by Ms Cunneen, that she tried to pervert the course of justice by advising her son’s girlfriend, Sophia Tilley, to fake chest pains after a car accident to avoid a breath test.

It abandoned the investigation after the High Court ruled it was beyond the ICAC’s jurisdiction.

Inspector Levine found the episode was a “low point” in ICAC’s history and it had engaged in “unreasonable, unjust, [and] oppressive maladministration”.

But the ICAC claimed Inspector Levine’s report contained legal and factual errors.

In his letter, Mr Tudehope asks Ms Latham if there is a “manual” governing how the ICAC conducts private and public hearings and to provide a copy if one exists.

He also asks for any “policy document” governing the rights of witnesses and details of the process for issuing search warrants and how the ICAC handles complaints against it about alleged leaking to the media.

Apart from Ms Latham, the inquiry witness list includes ICAC solicitor Roy Waldon, executive director of investigation Sharon Loder and executive director of corruption prevention Robert Waldersee.

Inspector Levine’s report revealed Dr Waldersee advised against proceeding to a full investigation of Ms Cunneen as it was not within ICAC’s remit, but the contrary view of Mr Waldon and Ms Loder prevailed.

Inspector Levine and NSW Director of Public Prosecutions Lloyd Babb are also due to appear.

On Wednesday, Mr Tudehope said his questions were “standard questions on notice and cover matters which I believe may arise before the committee”.

“I do not believe the questions are unduly provocative,” he said.

A spokeswoman for the ICAC declined to comment.

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