Howzat?: Richard Hadlee has been overlooked for his family's own trophy © Getty Images

Richard Hadlee has not been asked to the tournament named after his family, the Chappell-Hadlee Series, which takes place in Australia this month. He and his older brother Dayle, who also played for New Zealand, have been left off Cricket Australia's invite list for the three-match series starting in Adelaide on December 14.

"You would think there would be some representation from either family, particularly when your name is attached to something, but nothing has happened," Hadlee told the Dominion Post.

He would be unavailable for the Adelaide match anyway, as he will now attend a New Zealand Cricket Players' Association charity event in Invercargill instead. But he said his brother could be an equally decent representative. "It is a family thing," he said, "it is not about me."

New Zealand Cricket's chief executive Justin Vaughan believes the slight was accidental, suggesting that the tournament's infancy - this will be its fourth series - was the reason for the oversight. "I don't think this is a deliberate snub, but it is something both us and Cricket Australia have to address," Vaughan said.

"I think we need to make a conscious effort to invite someone from the Chappell family when we host it and Cricket Australia has to make a conscious effort to invite someone from the Hadlee family."

CA's chief executive James Sutherland said Hadlee hadn't been invited because they were told he couldn't make it. "I know through my office we've made inquiries about Sir Richard's availability to be at the Chappell-Hadlee matches and we were led to believe that he wasn't available," Sutherland told AAP. "But if he is available we would of course be absolutely delighted to have him at matches, as we have previously at other Chappell-Hadlee matches."

Sutherland also rejected suggestions that CA might look to scrap the series. "It's something that continues to grow with interest and as we know it's actually one of the trophies at the moment that the Australian team doesn't hold and I know the boys are very keen to get that back."