Hughes 'blown away' by Beer shout

Merv Hughes was a selector until two months ago, but even he was caught off guard by Michael Beer's call-up for this week's Perth Test. The inclusion of the left-arm spinner Beer, who played the first of his five first-class games in October, was a major surprise given the delicate state of the series, which England leads 1-0.

"I must admit I was a little bit blown away by it," Hughes told the Sydney Morning Herald. "Having been in the selection system for the last five years you know the process that they watch the games and obviously he's impressed the selectors at the games he's played this year. I actually didn't hear the team. Someone said a left-armer from WA had been picked, I actually thought it might have been Aaron Heal."

The chairman of selectors, Andrew Hilditch, said of the decision that having a left-arm orthodox spinner would be a good option for Australia in the future. The first one they tried, Xavier Doherty, was axed after two Tests, and Steve O'Keefe, who played in the Australia A match against England in November was surprisingly overlooked.

"Three weeks ago when he wasn't picked for the Australian A team they couldn't have been thinking about him then because they played [Steve] Smith and O'Keefe in that game," Hughes said. "Michael Beer's a huge surprise. I would have thought there would have been a couple of players in front of him, but I haven't seen games this year."

Beer moved to Western Australia from Melbourne during the 2010 off-season and Hughes said during his time as a selector he had not seen him play. However, despite being surprised by the call-up, Hughes said he had no reason to think Beer would not be up to the task if he plays at the WACA.

"Since Adelaide everyone's been crying out for change and when they make a change everyone sits back and asks why," Hughes said. "We can't cry out for change then question why it's been done. Give the kid a chance, I hope he goes really well. I'm surprised but I'm also excited for him."