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| December 4, 2002 | Wednesday | Ramazan 28,1423 |
Steve Waugh determined to regain one-day spot
SYDNEY, Dec 3: Steve Waugh has vowed to prove Australia’s cricket selectors wrong for omitting him from their World Cup one-day squad.
The Australian Test captain said he was disappointed and hurt when the selectors failed to find him a spot in their preliminary squad of 30 players for the tournament to be staged in South Africa and Zimbabwe next February.
But Waugh, who captained Australia to victory in the 1999 World Cup, said he had not given up hope of forcing his way back when the final 15-man squad is named later this month.
“I was very disappointed not to be considered in the top 30 players,” Waugh told reporters Tuesday.
“I was disappointed and hurt by it and I want to try to prove them wrong.”
Although Waugh remains in charge of the Test team, he was dumped from the limited-overs side in February after 325 matches, including 106 as captain, when Australia failed to make the final of a triangular tournament they were hosting against New Zealand and South Africa.
Waugh, 37, will get his first chance to prove the selectors wrong Friday when he captains New South Wales against England in a day-nighter at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
“I’ve just got to get runs and, if I bowl, take wickets and make an impression,” he said.
Meanwhile, paceman Jason Gillespie Tuesday told English batting tailenders they had to learn to deal with fast, short-pitched deliveries.
Teammate Brett Lee drew blood from England’s Alex Tudor in the third cricket Test in Perth Sunday, then was booed after bouncing tailender Steve Harmison two balls later.
Tudor required six stitches in a wound above his left eye after he ducked into a Lee bouncer which went through the grille of his helmet.
But Gillespie said international cricketers were paid well and should know how to bat.
“We’re professionals and we get paid to play cricket, that means you’ve got to practise your skills and get yourself right,” Gillespie said at Adelaide Airport on Tuesday.
“I don’t mind getting bounced when I’m batting, I’m no great batter myself but I’ve got to learn how to play it, it’s as simple as that.”
Gillespie, widely regarded as Australia’s unluckiest bowler, said he was unconcerned about having several catches put down off his bowling during Australia’s wins in the past two Test matches, in Adelaide and Perth.
“I’m bowling well and the team’s winning, so there’s no problems,” he said.
“A few nicks went down, but it doesn’t matter as long as we win.”
Australia crushed England by an innings and 48 runs in the third Perth Test on Sunday to wrap up an Ashes series for the eighth successive time with two Tests to play in Melbourne and Sydney.—APP
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