Shah deserved tour spot, says Emburey

LONDON: Middlesex coach John Emburey has hit out at England's selectors for leaving in-form batsman Owais Shah out of the one-day squad to tour Pakistan.

"The fact that he's not there to me is criminal," said Emburey. "He's going to have to bat like Don Bradman to play any better than he has done this year." Shah has scored more than 2,000 runs in all competitions this summer, but his only reward was a place at the National Academy for the winter.

The 26-year-old has recently been playing with a knee injury, but Emburey insisted it was nothing serious. "I hope someone actually speaks to him and tells him why he isn't going and doesn't use his little knee injury as an excuse.

"I want someone to be honest with the bloke - either the selectors or the coach," said Emburey. Shah has played 15 one-day internationals, scoring 283 runs at an average of 21.7, but none since the 2002-03 tour to Australia.

Cannot see the reasoning behind the Test squad for Pakistan - why has Shah been overlooked Emburey accused England of operating a "closed shop" policy.

He added: "I can understand there are no vacancies in the Test side for him because the batting is fairly solid and they have kept a squad of players together which has performed very well, and I think that's right. "But I think their one-day cricket has been very inconsistent and there is a need to bring someone in who can add something to the team and make them better."