Hayden’s future looks bleak after non-selection

Matthew Hayden is weighing up his cricketing future following his omission from the Australian Twenty20 and one-day squads on Thursday.

The 37-year-old Queenslander has had a lean trot this summer, only averaging 19.5 in the 2-1 three-Test series loss to South Africa in Australia.

“My immediate future is to go back home to my family and the people that love me the most and just enjoy this time, to take guard again, it’s been a pretty long last four months,” he said.

“I am going to take the time to get my mind around what the future does hold.

“I will take my time and make a good decision going forward.”

National chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said the decision to drop the out-of-form opener wasn’t related to his slim pickings in the longer form of the game.

“This would have been a decision made no matter what Matthew was doing in Test cricket,” said Hilditch.

“Obviously this is very disappointing for Matthew Hayden and it was not an easy thing to tell him but in the Twenty20 World Cup (in June in England) there will be an emphasis on youth.

“We still have to manage that very carefully, we still have players on that fringe whether they can play the Twenty20 World Cup and the Ashes (starting in July).

“But as far as Matthew was concerned we thought the time was right to move on in Twenty20 cricket and in one-day cricket it is our view that he was not going to make it to the 2011 world Cup and we would have made that decision in any event.”

The five-match one-day series against South Africa starts on Friday week at the MCG.

Twenty20 squad: Ricky Ponting (Tas, capt), Mike Hussey (WA, vice capt), David Hussey (Vic), Ben Hilfenhaus (Tas), James Hopes (Qld), Nathan Bracken (NSW), Brad Haddin (NSW), Shaun Marsh (WA), Shaun Tait (SA), David Warner (NSW), Ryan Harris (Qld), Cameron White (Vic), Nathan Hauritz (NSW).

One-day international squad: Ricky Ponting (Tas, capt), Michael Clarke (NSW, vice capt), Brad Haddin (NSW), James Hopes (Qld), Nathan Bracken (NSW), Shaun Marsh (WA), Mike Hussey (WA), David Hussey (Vic), Nathan Hauritz (NSW), Ben Hilfenhaus (Tas), Cameron White (Vic), Shaun Tait (SA), Peter Siddle (Vic).