Australia’s Test captain Michael Clarke revealed in Birmingham today that selection chairman Rod Marsh and his fellow panel member including Darren Lehmann had spoken with Brad Haddin during the recent tour match in Derbyshire and explained to him they planned to hand the third Test wicketkeeping duties to Peter Nevill.
Haddin, who withdrew from the recent second Test at Lord’s for family reasons thereby allowing Nevill to make his Test debut, hasn’t been in the best of form in the last 10 months or so and Peter Nevill’s good performance with the bat and behind the stumps have forced the selectors to drop Haddin and go with Nevill for the third Ashes Test in Birmingham.
While making the announcement in the press conference, Michael Clarke expressed his wish that his close friend and long-time teammate continue playing in the hope of another opportunity presenting itself.
This is what Michael Clarke said in the press conference:
“Rod (Marsh) and Boof (Lehmann) came and spoke to me and told me what they were thinking,” Clarke said when asked today if he had been kept in the loop over the selectors’ decision to sideline Haddin in favour of his younger New South Wales understudy.
“It’s obviously a lot harder for me because I have that attachment to Hadds, I’ve grown up playing cricket with him, we’ve spent a lot of time together and I love the fact that he’s still here working hard.
“If an opportunity comes, he’ll grab that with both hands.
“On the other hand, Nev made the most of his opportunity in the second Test, I thought he batted really well and I thought he kept exceptionally well.
“So it’s a tough one when you sit in the middle, but that’s the way the selectors have gone and I respect their decision.”
