Victoria drop David Hussey from Shield side

Veteran batsman David Hussey has been dropped from Victoria's Sheffield Shield side to take on Tasmania this week, with Glenn Maxwell preferred for a middle-order batting and offspin role. Hussey, 36, was considered an outside chance for Test selection last summer, when he was part of the ODI team, but he now appears to be fighting for his state career following a slow start to the season.

Although he averages 51.71 from 180 first-class appearances, Hussey began this summer by averaging 28.83 in the Ryobi Cup and then started the Shield campaign with scores of 44, 7 and 13. Andrew Lynch, the Victoria chairman of selectors, said it was a difficult choice to leave Hussey out.

"Huss is a bit unlucky in that all the other batters are in good form," Lynch said.

The return of Maxwell and Jon Holland from playing for Australia A last week has led to some changes in the side, while Clint McKay has also been included after returning from the ODI tour of India. Instead of playing for Victoria, Aaron Finch will be part of the Cricket Australia Invitational XI to take on England in Sydney, while Peter Siddle has been rested in preparation for the first Ashes Test.

Victoria squad Chris Rogers, Rob Quiney, Peter Handscomb, Cameron White, Daniel Christian, Matthew Wade (capt, wk), Glenn Maxwell, John Hastings, Clint McKay, Jon Holland, Scott Boland, Fawad Ahmed.