Victoria drop Australia A batsman Hussey

David Hussey, the Australia A batsman, was a stunning omission from Victoria's Pura Cup side for the match against South Australia at the MCG on Friday. In a month where Hussey has scored 128 and 5 against West Indies and 45 and 50 against Pakistan in tour matches, his state has dropped him as they look for answers following a heavy loss to Western Australia last week.

Greg Shipperd, the coach, said Hussey's lack of runs - he has 257 at 23.36 in six Pura Cup games - forced the change. "David's record - and I'm sure he'd be the first to admit it - in the four-day version of the game this season is nowhere near what he is capable of," he said. "He needs to go back to the drawing board and make sure that he tightens up his game a little bit."

Hussey will be replaced by Nick Jewell, who has performed strongly in 2nd XI and club matches, while Shane Harwood returns for Allan Wise and will play his first game since breaking his cheekbone in December. "Our team performance indicates our batting's going astray and a change needs to be made," Shipperd said. "We've had some players putting pressure on from behind the scenes for a little while now."

Mark Cosgrove, who has scored a miserable 233 runs at 18.58 this season, has been dumped from the South Australia squad. Last season Cosgrove, nicknamed `Baby Boof' for his heavy likeness to Darren Lehmann, was a glowing find for the Redbacks, but his second summer has been a disaster. Daniel Harris, the 25-year-old batsman, has been recalled after two years away from the side and 772 grade runs at 51.47, including three hundreds in his past three innings.

The match will decide the second-year holder of the David Hookes Memorial Trophy, which is determined by points from the four Victoria and South Australia Pura and ING Cup games. Victoria currently leads with nine points to South Australia's six.

South Australia Graham Manou (capt, wk), Daniel Harris, Paul Rofe, Ryan Harris, Nathan Adcock, Trent Kelly, Greg Blewett, Tom Plant, Daniel Cullen, Shaun Tait, Callum Ferguson, Luke Williams.

Victoria Cameron White (capt), Matthew Elliott, Jason Arnberger, Brad Hodge, Jon Moss, Nick Jewell, Ian Harvey, Graeme Rummans, Peter Roach (wk), Shane Warne, Mick Lewis, Shane Harwood.