Hughes vows to fight back after being left out of Oz Ashes squad

MELBOURNE - Opener Philip Hughes, who was not selected in the Australian 17-man Ashes squad, has vowed to fight back and regain his place in the team.

Hughes snub shows a spectacular free fall for the New South Wales left-hander who scored centuries in each innings of a Test against South Africa only 20 months ago.

“I’m disappointed to have missed out, but it has made me hungrier to train harder, score more runs and put myself into contention in the near future,” The Daily Telegraph quoted him, as saying.

NSW teammate Usman Khawaja and South Australian Callum Ferguson were included in the squad in place of Hughes.

Skipper Ricky Ponting plans to call Hughes to offer him support. “I’ll tell him to keep working hard and do his best and to knuckle down this week to try and make runs. He’s a good young kid and I think he knows where he’s going and what he has to do,” he said.

Hughes has a 51.25 batting average from seven Tests; including a last-innings 86 not out off 75 balls in March. (ANI)