Saturday 1 August 2015 12:59, UK
Australia coach Darren Lehmann says the decision to drop wicketkeeper Brad Haddin for the third Ashes Test at Edgbaston was the most difficult of his career.
Haddin missed the previous game at Lord's because of family reasons and although his replacement Peter Nevill impressed in Australia's 405-run win, the decision not to recall Haddin for Birmingham reportedly caused disquiet within the squad given the personal nature of his withdrawal.
Speaking after Australia's eight-wicket defeat at Edgbaston, Lehmann said: "Let's make it perfectly clear. Brad has been a fantastic cricketer for Australia for a long period of time and that would be the hardest decision I have had to make as a coach, or even as a player.
"I know there has been a very unbalanced view from a lot of people. We certainly care about Brad and his family. We had to make a decision on what we thought was the best XI for this particular game.
"We all love Hadds, the players love Hadds, so everyone's going to have different emotions but that's part of professional sport and we try and deal with it as best we possibly can.
"The cold hard facts are Hadds played the last 12 Test matches and made 250 runs at 15, with 16 'bowleds' out of 21. It comes down to the performance."
Lehmann added that the 37-year-old had been "fantastic" in accepting his omission from the team.
"I can't speak highly enough of how good he's been with Pete," he said. "He's taken over the wicketkeeper coaching role as well as trying to do his own stuff to keep ready... one of the best blokes I've ever coached."
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