Crane's Hampshire omission disappoints England selector

James Whitaker, the England national selector, has expressed his disappointment after Mason Crane was left out of Hampshire's side for the first three County Championship matches of the season.

Crane, the 20-year-old legspinner, came into the English domestic season having become the first overseas player to break into the New South Wales team in more than 30 years (Imran Khan was the most recent) and having helped bowl The South to a 3-0 win over The North during the one-day series in the UAE. A spell of 4 for 1 in the final encounter turned the match in The South's favour.

But any hope that Crane could build on his progress in the opening weeks of the season - and any hope that he might provide an early answer to England's spin-bowling issues - have been dashed as Hampshire have left him out of their Championship team. Reasoning that, on early season surfaces, they only require one spinner, they have preferred the all-round skills of Liam Dawson.

"It would have been good to see him play some cricket this year already," Whitaker admitted. "But we have no control over the selection of the Hampshire team.

"It is disappointing. Mason Crane is clearly a very exciting young cricketer. He had a very exciting winter with some opportunities."

While Whitaker's comments might be interpreted as a thinly-veiled swipe at Hampshire's selection policy - the club have utilised three Kolpak players so far this season and also left out talented young batsmen Tom Alsop at times - to some extent Hampshire cannot be blamed.

With the season scheduled to allow a block for T20 cricket, the Championship programme has been pushed ever more into the margins - Hampshire will have played six of their Championship matches by the end of the first week of June - meaning that surfaces might be expected to provide more assistance for seamers and negate the need for spinners.

In a highly competitive top division, Hampshire are understandably picking the side they think gives them the best chance of winning games. In that light, the Crane issue might be seen as a microcosm of the dilemma facing spinners trying to learn their game within the English system more than any fault of Hampshire.

Whatever the causes, it does little for the development of Crane. And, with the number of Championship games cut from 16 to 14 this year and Crane expected to win selection in the Lions teams, it remains to be seen how often he will turn out for Hampshire in first-class cricket this season.

The Lions programme of games starts in the first week of June - they play three one-day games against South Africa A - before a four-day match against the same opposition (June 21-24) and then a three-day match against the senior South Africa touring side (June 29-July 1).

If, as expected, Crane is included in those squads, he will be unavailable for Hampshire's home Championship game against Warwickshire, their away Championship match against Lancashire and their home Championship game against Somerset.