Hughes says Johnson has `every right to feel aggrieved`

Sydney: Former Australian captain Kim Hughes has said that paceman Mitchell Johnson had every right to feel aggrieved at his omission from the Ashes squad, although he said that Johnson will bounce back from this predicament.

Johnson, the only Western Australia player among Cricket Australia`s latest contract holders, was overlooked for both the Ashes and Australia A squads for the July-August tour, with selectors opting for a pace battery consisting of James Faulkner, Mitchell Starc , James Pattinson, Jackson Bird and Ryan Harris. Although Hughes did not discount Johnson for the next Ashes series in view of his age, he said that the paceman has got every right to feel aggrieved at the fact that he wasted his time in the India Tests, and would have been better off playing in the domestic Sheffield Shield tournament. Calling Johnson`s stint in the whitewashed India Tests as a `waste of time`, Hughes said that it is disappointing that the team had taken more than necessary players to India, adding that Johnson`s time in India was one of the reasons behind his not getting selected for the Ashes squad. According to Hughes, Johnson had wasted his time in India waiting for a chance to play, adding that the pacer should have been sent back to Australia to play a regular game. Hughes further said that Ryan Harris got into the Ashes squad by playing a Sheffield Shield final, instead of going to the disastrous India Tests. Meanwhile, Hughes said that he felt that teenager Ashton Agar, who was named in the Australia A team, faces an uphill battle for selection, with a two-pronged spin attack not in Australia`s game plan, despite being a bright prospect. Johnson was included in an extended squad that was whitewashed 4-0 in the recent tour of India, but was among the group of four ruled unavailable for the Third Test following the "homework" debacle, leaving him with having played just the fourth match. ANI