One-day axing 'kick in guts': White

Dumped allrounder Cameron White has described his omission from Australia's one-day squad for next month's Sri Lanka tour as a "kick in the guts".

On a mixed day for the Victorian, White was axed from the ODI team but retained as Australia's Twenty20 captain for the tour when the two squads were named on Wednesday.The writing was on the wall for White when he was dropped from the team during the recent one-day series in Bangladesh following a barren run at the World Cup. But it didn't soften the blow on Wednesday. "It is no secret I haven't been in the best of form of late but I was hopeful I would still be in the squad. It's definitely a kick in the guts," White said in Brisbane. White exits the one-day squad along with Callum Ferguson as fellow batsmen Shaun Marsh and David Hussey return.

White hoped to break back into the one-day side but wondered when he would get the next chance to press his claims. "I don't have a lot of cricket for a little while now," he said. "Outside of a couple of T20 games I will be back playing for Victoria and scoring as many runs as I can. "I just have to go back and get better and hopefully get another opportunity at some stage."

White did not consider himself a T20 specialist. "T20 is such a different game and moving towards having specialist players - (but) I am not saying I am in that boat," he said. Australian Test and one-day skipper Michael Clarke backed White to break back into the 50-over game. "It is a tough call because he is a wonderful player and has been a big part of the one-day team for a while now," said Clarke. "I am very confident he will continue to work hard in the nets and keep putting the runs on the board whether it be for Victoria or in Twenty20."On the other hand it is great to see young Shaun Marsh and David Hussey back in the team." White averaged just 17.5 in seven innings before being ousted by South Australia's Ferguson on the Bangladesh tour. Marsh returns to the one-day side after missing the World Cup due to a hamstring injury while Hussey is back in both the 50-over game and T20 sides after missing the Bangladesh tour due to the birth of his first child.

Young quick James Pattinson features in both squads while Xavier Doherty is the one-day spinner and Stephen O'Keefe is the T20 tweaker. Australia will play two T20s, five ODIs and three Tests in Sri Lanka. T20 players fly out on July 30 and the remaining one-day squad members on August 5. The Test squad will be announced later this month.

Author and source: Laine Clark, AAP July 6th. 2011