A fast bowler who last month could have made his Test debut for Australia had the tour of Bangladesh gone ahead, has been dumped from his state team after two rounds of the Sheffield Shield season.
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Andrew Fekete and wicketkeeper Tim Paine, who at one stage was considered a certainty to be Brad Haddin's successor, were the big casualties as Tasmania sought to drag themselves out of a slump which is on the brink of being the worst in their history.
The Tigers have been helped by playing their first two shield matches at home but lost both. When you include their awful end to 2014-15, when they lost their last five matches, it takes their losing streak to seven.
They will travel to Sydney for their match against NSW – to be played at Bankstown, due to the SCG's turf problems – with the prospect of equalling the biggest losing streak in their history: eight consecutive outright defeats, between December 1979 and March 1981.
Fekete was dropped after taking seven wickets in his first two matches, at an average of 43. The 30-year-old was the shock selection for the squad that was due to play in Bangladesh, on the back of 37 shield wickets at an average of 24.11 in the preceding season.
Paine, who admitted earlier this year this was a pivotal season for him after being dropped last year, suffered the same fate after scoring only 27 runs in four innings. Batsman Dom Michael was also axed after contributing a total of 49 runs in the first two matches.
Veteran paceman Ben Hilfenhaus is also out of the team to face the Blues, albeit because selectors were concerned about his workload more so than his performances.
Fekete's place has been taken by fellow fast bowler Hamish Kingston, while spinner Clive Rose has replaced Hilfenhaus. Tall batsman Beau Webster, 21, has come into the side for Michael, while Paine has been succeeded behind the stumps by Tom Triffitt, who is set to make his first shield appearance for Tasmania since March 2012. The 24-year-old left at the end of that season to join Western Australia but was eventually sacked because of disciplinary issues.
Triffitt has since returned to Hobart and worked hard to make amends, initially without the benefit of a playing contract. His path back began when he was contracted by Melbourne Stars in last season's Big Bash League – he will play for them again this season – while he also returned to the Tigers' contract list this season.
TASMANIA SQUAD: George Bailey (c), Alex Doolan (vc), Jackson Bird, Xavier Doherty, Jake Doran, Ben Dunk, James Faulkner, Hamish Kingston, Sam Rainbird, Clive Rose, Tom Triffitt, Beau Webster.
