Klinger pulls out of Australian Maccabiah Team

A little more than a month to go before the first ball of the 18th Maccabiah is bowled, the tournament has lost its biggest star with South Australia batsman Michael Klinger pulling out of the Australian team.

Klinger, a former Australia U19 captain, played in the Games in 1997 and was scheduled to lead a youthful Australian team in this years event, has had to withdraw after being selected for the Australia A team to play a series against Pakistan A.

Having moved from Victoria to South Australia last year, Klinger enjoyed a superb season, scoring over 1200 runs including 255 against his former team, which led some to suggest he may have earned a spot in the Australian Ashes squad. Although being overlooked for that team, selection for an Australian A squad which includes a number of players on the fringe of Test selection is recognition from the national selectors he could yet earn a full Australian call up.

With Klinger out, South Africa will once again be the obvious favorites, with former Test star Adam Bacher leading their team. It does however mean competition amongst all the othe nations - Australia, Great Britain, India and Israel - will be extremely tight as they chase a spot in the final. The tournament, which will include a 20/20 tournament alongside the 50-over matches for the first time, gets underway July 12 with Israel playing India and South Africa playing Australia.