Ashton Agar’s response to being dropped midway via the tour of India and being snubbed for backups Todd Murphy and Matt Kuhnemann has been praised as “pure class”, and a “lesson in how to conduct yourself when things are not going your way.”
Agar arrived again in Australia on Thursday as the one left-arm spinner picked within the preliminary Australian squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, however was left on the sidelines as selectors parachuted in Matt Kuhnemann, regardless of Agar’s earlier expertise at Test stage.
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At 29, the snub may make it exhausting for Agar to get again within the Test crew, given he’s slipped down the pecking order however he was circumspect about the place he sits.
“It’s not an ideal situation but you just try and make the best of it,” Agar mentioned at Perth Airport.
“I’m 29 now and been through plenty of ups and downs in the game.
“I’m in a fortunate position so it’s nothing that stresses me out too much.
“There was really clear messaging, they communicated with me and it’s a clear path forward with that message, it’s chin up, walk tall and try and improve.
“There’s no bitterness around this sort of stuff any more, that’s an old school mentality.
“I just try and give as much as I can and help where I can.”
Selector Tony Dodemaide mentioned Agar had “worked his backside off” in India however they didn’t really feel he posed as a lot of a risk to India’s batters as Kuhnemann.
For Agar’s mentor Sridharan Sriram, the problem for Agar was in replicating his motion over a whole day’s play, quite than the 4 to 10 overs required within the white ball fixtures the place he has had a lot success.
“I think the challenge for him always lies in holding his action together through a long period of time,” Sriram mentioned forward of the tour.
“In a 20 or 25 over day, is he able to hold his action for a long period of time?
“He’s someone who can lose his action even in the day between spells.”
Agar, who will return to India in Australia’s ODI crew for a sequence in March, mentioned an absence of red-ball video games lately didn’t assist his trigger.
“It’s been pretty hard for me recently to be fair, I’ve played like three red-ball games in three years,” Agar informed Channel 10 in Perth.
“It’s hard to expect that part of my game to be in tip-top, perfect shape.
“But I’ll always compete as hard as I can and give as much as I can to a team.
“It’s just whether I get that chance, I’ll play as well as I can and see what happens.”
The West Australian was assured he had the resilience to maintain pushing his nationwide trigger.
“I do feel like I am pretty resilient and try and front up every day with a smile on my face and be part of a team,” Agar mentioned.
“Going go India is really hard, individually it‘s hard and it’s bloody hard as a team especially against that team at the moment, they are unbelievable.
“I think controlling my attitude had been a strength of mine over the last few years and I am certainly enjoying my cricket a lot more because of that.
“You definitely bounce back a little quickly from setbacks.”
Former Test captain Mark Taylor believes the tip is nigh for the left-armer, telling Wide World of Sports he was “not sure what future (Agar) has left.”
“If they’re not picking him in India, I’m not sure how they can pick him again,” Taylor mentioned.
“He’s been around for a long time now.
“He’s not a spring chicken.”
– With NCA Newswire
Source: www.news.com.au
