Hussey upset at omission from World Cup squad

Melbourne, Feb 9 (PTI) Australia''s middle-order batsmanMichael Hussey has expressed surprise over not being given achance to recover from a hamstring injury despite him making agood progress and instead, naming his replacement in the WorldCup squad.

The national selectors did not wait for Hussey to regainfitness ahead of the World Cup and called in for CallumFerguson yesterday as the former''s replacement in the15-member squad.

The left-handed batsman, who tore his hamstring duringone of the games of the seven-match ODI series againstEngland, said he was disappointed by the decision.

"I''m really disappointed and a bit shocked by the news,"Hussey told Fox Sports.

"I tried to push my case forward. I said I would reallypush (to be fit) by the second game and definitely right bythe third game but it''s not a risk the selectors wanted totake. It''s a pretty hard pill to swallow, that''s for sure,"added the top run-scorer for Australia in the Ashes series.

The 35-year-old also cited the example of Andrew Symonds''selection in 2007, who went into the tournament despite beinginjured.

"The precedent had sort of been set at the last one withAndrew Symonds. He came in for the third or fourth game andplayed a really big part in our team. I was hoping that itwould be the same sort of thing for me, they''d give me everychance to have a crack at it at least," said Hussey, whoaverages 51.96 in One-dayers.