Selectors had 'no option' but to omit Haddin

Australia's selection chairman Rod Marsh has said that he and the coach Darren Lehmann had no choice but to retain Peter Nevill ahead of Brad Haddin for the Edgbaston Test match.

In one of the most vexing selection decisions to confront the panel for some time, Haddin was not reinstated for the third match of the Investec Ashes series after withdrawing from the team for the Lord's Test as his ill daughter Mia was in hospital. It is a decision that effectively ends Haddin's 68-Test career, barring injury to his replacement.

Nevill took seven catches and scored a fluent 45 on debut, playing a key role in Australia's 405-run victory over England that levelled the series after Haddin endured a poor match in Cardiff. The performances of the two glovemen in their respective appearances left Marsh to conclude that the younger man had to be chosen.

"We've made the call to stick with the same XI that played at Lord's and we were hoping we were able to do this," Marsh said. "Obviously we had to wait on Chris Rogers but we decided that Nevill had such a good game at Lord's, the team played that well, won by 405 runs, it was very hard to change a winning side."

Haddin has taken the decision as well as could be expected, but others including Ricky Ponting have criticised the selectors' choice of Nevill. As coach, Lehmann has always emphasised the importance of "family first", and there is some disquiet at how Haddin could have been in line to play at Lord's but then fallen behind in the space of one match. Marsh, though, cited Haddin's recent loss of batting form.

"He's a fantastic player with a fantastic attitude," Marsh said, "but he's averaging 15 in his last 12 Test matches, we needed runs down there, he didn't keep well and he'll admit that at Cardiff and the new boy did very, very well at Lord's, so in my way of thinking, we didn't have an option."

The omission of Haddin was difficult for numerous members of the squad to deal with, not least the captain Michael Clarke. Marsh has also known Haddin for a long time, referencing their time together at the Cricket Academy in Adelaide more than 15 years ago.

"It was amazingly hard call, but we have to try and do the best thing for the country and the selection panel believe that was the best thing for the team, for the country," Marsh said. "I've known Brad for a hell of a long time. I had Brad at the academy back in Adelaide at the turn of the century, even before that."

The opening batsman Chris Rogers looked uncomfortable when asked about whether there was unease within the team over the decision. "I don't really want to talk about that," he said. "That's something for the selection panel. Maybe at the end of the series I can think about that, but at the moment I don't really want to."