Australia coach Darren Lehmann has claimed that leaving Brad Haddin out of the third Ashes Test was the "hardest" decision of his career.
The wicketkeeper missed the second Test at Lord's due to family reasons, but he was not recalled when the series got back underway at Edgbaston.
Australia went on to lose the match by eight wickets as England took a 2-1 lead with two Tests left to play.
Haddin's omission was criticised by a handful of former players, including Shane Warne and Ricky Ponting, and Lehmann admits that it was incredibly difficult to leave the 37-year-old out.
"Those decisions do not come lightly to any of us," he told reporters. "It comes down to performance. The cold hard fact is that Brad has played the last 12 Test matches and made 250 runs and being bowled 15 or 16 times out of 21.
"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 a player.
"We certainly care a lot about Brad and his family but we had to make a decision on what was the best XI for this particular game."
The fourth Ashes Test between England and Australia gets underway at Trent Bridge on August 6.
Jack Prescott
