Bulls ING Cup team named

The XXXX Queensland Bulls will commence their 2002-03 ING Cup season without the services of Stuart Law after he was omitted today from the team for Sunday's season opener against NSW at North Sydney Oval.

Law was the notable omission in today's team, with the State selectors opting to utilise young batsmen Lee Carseldine, Clinton Perren and Brendan Nash in the order alongside established players Jimmy Maher, Martin Love and Andrew Symonds.

Queensland Chairman of Selectors Andrew Courtice said the decision had been a difficult one but was "purely performance-based."

"I've assured him that he will be considered for future one-day selection on form like everyone else," he said.

"Obviously you feel sympathy when you make a decision to omit a player from a team and particularly so when it is a player of Stuart's stature. You are aware of the ramifications of a decision like this, but as selectors, you can't let the sympathy you feel for a player influence the decision-making process."

"But it was a particularly tough choice, as two of the selectors in Paul and Dick have played a lot of cricket with Stuey and I have known him for a long time."

"We have spoken and I know he is very disappointed but he told me that he will be doing his best to force his way in and that is what I had hoped, and expected, to hear from him."

Courtice said the ING Cup selection was a separate issue from the selection of the Bulls' Pura Cup team to play NSW at the Gabba next week.

The Queensland team for the match starting on Wednesday will be announced later this week

"The four day team is a stand alone team - over the past few years we have looked at the one-day and four-day as different sides, and Stuart's selection prospects in the four day game will be judged on his four-day form, as it is for all of the players."

Law, who stood down as Bulls captain at the end of last season after leading Queensland to its five domestic championships in the past eight years, expressed his disappointment at his omission.

"I'm hurting right now, that's no surprise," he said today.

"I went to England wanting to improve my one-day game because I felt I had been below par for a few seasons. I believed I worked it out over there and averaged 50 plus in the one-day game for Lancashire.

"I came back looking to putting that into practice without the burden of captaincy under the new regime we have in place.

"I'm not in this team but I haven't played my last one day game for Queensland. Now I've got to keep working my backside off - keep improving my cricket and not give up.

"We've got a big season ahead and personally this is a hiccup, but teamwise it is an opportunity," Law said.

Law is Queensland's most capped one-day player, with 71 matches, and the third-leading runs-scorer with 1916 runs at 32.47. He holds the record for the fast one-day century in Australian domestic one day history (74 balls) and has Queensland's highest individual score of 159 (v Tas, 1993-94).

The Queensland team also includes young pace bowlers Scott Brant and Damien MacKenzie who made their first class and one day debuts for the Bulls last season.

XXXX Queensland Bulls v NSW Blues, ING Cup, Sunday, October 13: Jimmy Maher (c), Martin Love, Lee Carseldine, Clinton Perren, Andrew Symonds, Brendan Nash, James Hopes, Wade Seccombe, Ashley Noffke, Michael Kasprowicz, Scott Brant, Damien MacKenzie (all 12 to play).