Marsh defends Brad ommission

BIRMINGHAM: Australia selection chief Rodney Marsh said on Wednesday he had no option but to leave wicket-keeper Brad Haddin out of the third Ashes Test against England at Edgbaston.
Haddin, the vice-captain, has been overlooked in favour of the younger Peter Nevill after the 37-year-old pulled out of the second Test at Lord’s to be with his sick daughter Mia.
Nevill, 29, took seven catches at Lord’s and made 45 during an impressive Test debut at Lord’s as Australia thrashed England by 405 runs to level the five-match Ashes series at 1-1.
Although both keepers played against Derbyshire in last week tour match, it was Nevill who was behind the stumps, with Haddin, again available for Test selection, playing as a batsman.
Marsh and coach Darren Lehmann, the two on-tour selectors, opted to stick with Nevill for the third Test, a decision which led to intense criticism from several former Australia internationals.
But Marsh told the cricket.com.au website on Wednesday — the first of the third Test — that Haddin’s form did not warrant a recall. “He’s a fantastic player with a fantastic attitude but he’s averaging 15 in his last 12 Test matches,” said Marsh.
“We needed runs down there, he didn’t keep well — and he’ll admit that — at Cardiff (where England won the first Test by 169 runs) and the new boy did very, very well at Lord’s, so in my way of thinking, we didn’t have an option.”
Former Australia captain Ponting, who played 168 Tests, was unimpressed after current skipper Michael Clarke confirmed Haddin’s omission on Tuesday.
“I am disappointed with the decision to leave Brad Haddin out of the Test team for Edgbaston,” he said in a column for The Australian newspaper.
“He made the only and right decision to be with his daughter Mia who was very ill in hospital and missed that match.”