Aussies in turmoil as ex-Hants star heads home (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Aussies in turmoil as ex-Hants star heads home

2:19pm Monday 11th March 2013 in Southampton

SHANE Watson's place in Australia's Ashes squad is in doubt after returning home from India following his shock exclusion from the squad for the third Test.

The angry vice-captain says he is returning to be with his wife who is expecting a baby at the end of the month.

Watson was ''absolutely shattered'' to be stood down over a minor discipinary breach - along with Usman Khawaja, James Pattinson and Mitchell Johnson - and is weighing up his future in Test cricket.

''Any time you're suspended for a Test match unless you do something unbelievably wrong, and obviously everyone knows what those rules are - I think it is very harsh,'' said the former Hampshire star.

''I'm at a stage where I'm sort of weighing up my future and what I want to do with my cricket in general to be honest.

''I do love playing, there is no doubt about that but … I'm going to spend the next few weeks with my family and just weigh up my options of just exactly what direction I want to go.

''There are a lot more important things in life - I certainly do love playing cricket and that passion is still there and I feel like I'm in the prime years of my cricket career.

''From that perspective I still feel like I've got a lot to give. But from a holistic perspective I've got to sit down with my family and decide which directions they are.''

Watson said he had been about to tell Arthur and captain Michael Clarke on Monday that he would have to miss the fourth Test in Delhi next week to be home for the birth of his first child.

''I was about to communicate that to Mickey and the leadership group today but they obviously beat me to it by telling me I wasn't selected for this Test match,'' he said.

''Also overnight, things have changed and Lee wasn't going to tell me things had changed because she knew how much it meant to me to be able to play this Test match. [The baby] was due in a couple of weeks but it's looking like things have sped up a little bit.''