Waugh loses battle for one-day spot

John Polack

March 4, 2002

Mark Waugh will join twin brother Steve on the one-day international sidelines after he today became another high-profile casualty of Australia's modest recent limited-overs form. Along with all-rounder Andrew Symonds, the veteran batsman has been squeezed out of the new-look national squad selected for upcoming series in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

In an unmistakable shift toward youth ahead of their side's World Cup defence in South Africa next year, Australia's selectors have included two rookies and another player with only fleeting one-day international experience in the 15-man squad named for the twin tours.

Tasmanian Shane Watson and Queenslander Nathan Hauritz are the new faces in the squad, while Queensland opener Jimmy Maher has won a recall after last appearing at international level four years ago. Test opening batsman Matthew Hayden, another Queenslander, has also been re-included in the limited-overs fold.

Watson - fresh from an outstanding debut performance in Australian colours in a tour match against South Africa 'A' yesterday - is an explosive 20-year-old all-rounder. Like the Tasmanian, off spinner Hauritz was one of Australia's most accomplished junior players in the lead-up to his domestic debut last season and is a player of immense potential. Maher, 28, has meanwhile been a prolific run scorer for several years in his role as a left handed opening batsman for the Bulls.

Though the changes to the squad are not as far-reaching as had been anticipated, they mean that this is the first time in 16 years that an Australian one-day squad will not contain at least one of the Waugh brothers.

Waugh and Symonds have both paid the price for disappointing recent returns, especially in the course of the country's ill-fated campaign in the recent three-cornered series against New Zealand and South Africa.

Despite enjoying a satisfying start to the current Test tour of South Africa with scores of 62, 53 and 110 in his only three innings to date, Waugh has fallen on the sword of recent limited-overs failures. A veteran of 244 one-day internationals, he arrived in the Republic on the back of a disappointing run of outs at home, having scored only 126 runs from a total of seven innings in his worst series in Australia for a decade.

Symonds' departure also occurs in the wake of an unflattering series at home and follows his stinging public attack last week on aspects of the rotation policy adopted by the side. Targeted to fill the role of an all-rounder, he took three wickets and scored only 14 runs before losing his place in the last match of the series to Darren Lehmann. The Queenslander has played 48 one-day international matches in total since the time of his debut in November 1998.

The pair's omissions follow the four-man Australian selection panel's announcement of their decision to axe Steve Waugh as the side's limited-overs captain on the eve of the Test squad's departure to South Africa last month.

Under the captaincy of the newly-appointed Ricky Ponting, Australia begins a series of seven one-day matches against South Africa in Johannesburg on 22 March before meeting Zimbabwe in three games the following month.

The full squad is: Ricky Ponting (c), Adam Gilchrist (vc), Michael Bevan, Andy Bichel, Jason Gillespie, Ian Harvey, Nathan Hauritz, Matthew Hayden, Brett Lee, Darren Lehmann, Jimmy Maher, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Shane Watson.

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