Australias deplorable batting displays in Sri Lanka have apparently cost Jackson Bird a place in the Test team, after the South Australia seamer and lower order batsman Joe Mennie vaulted several other contenders to take the last place in the squad to face South Africa in the first Test at the WACA Ground.In a call that the selection chairman Rod Marsh was moved to justify, Bird was omitted despite bowling well for Australia on his last appearance in the Tests in New Zealand in February, and being part of the squad that travelled to Sri Lanka. It was there that Steven Smiths side were repeatedly rolled by the home sides spinners, with the tail unable to pick up the slack as it often had in the past.Declines of 5 for 66 and 5 for 21 in Kandy, 5 for 26 and 5 for 64 in Galle and 5 for 26 and 5 for 37 in Colombo recalled the days when the West Indies pace attack used to rattle through the Australian tail, leaving Marsh to suggest that Mennies more serviceable record with the bat had squeezed him ahead of Bird.I talked to Jackson again this morning and I said to Jackson the thing that probably cost him a place was his batting, Marsh said in Perth. Weve got to get runs at the bottom of the order as well, particularly against a very good attack.Mennies inclusion followed his underwhelming start to international cricket in South Africa on the recent ODI tour. Bird had been widely expected to take the spot after being a squad member in Sri Lanka and also bowling well in New Zealand earlier in the year. The selection panel has always favoured the inclusion of a bowler to deliver long spells into the breeze in Perth, and Mennies sterling efforts for South Australia last summer were enough to convince the panel he may be able to perform the same role in a Test match.[Mennie] was the best bowler in domestic cricket last summer and he continued his good work during the A series and was rewarded with a trip to South Africa, Marsh said. Hes not the greatest one day bowler, but he showed in that last one day match a little bit of the talent he has. Hes a very good length bowler and thats something that in Test cricket is of paramount importance.He bowls well everywhere because he bowls a length. Hes a dead-set professional length bowler, thats what I love about him. I think youll find hes surprisingly quick if you talk to the batsmen around the country, he hits the bat pretty hard and once again I get back to that word. Length. No-one likes bowlers that bowl a good length.As expected, Shaun Marshs return to fitness from a hamstring injury saw him retained in the batting order ahead of Joe Burns, while Peter Siddle returned to the team for the first time since he withdrew injured from the Test team during the tour of New Zealand in February. Moises Henriques was also dropped from the side that played in Colombo, as Usman Khawaja returned tot he team. Marsh was said to have edged his way past Burns by dint of hundreds in his past two Test matches, most recently the third Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo, and also a strong record in both Perth and Hobart.I felt desperately sorry for Joe because I saw two of the very good innings Ive seen in Test cricket recently [from him] in New Zealand, Rod Marsh said. At Christchurch he played magnificently, got 160 in the first innings and 70 in the second dig against a pretty good attack down there. But he lost his spot in Sri Lanka and Shaun got a hundred. Shaun Marshs last two matches in Hobart and Colombo have both been hundreds.The selectors will now wait to see how the WACA pitch shapes up for the first Test before deliberating on whether or not to include the spin of Nathan Lyon, who struggled somewhat in Sri Lanka but has an exceptional record in Australian conditions. Siddle and Mitchell Starc were both considered fit after injury-interrupted lead-ins - Starc bowling only 20 overs in the Sheffield Shield match at the Gabba to prove his recovery from a deep cut to the leg suffered in training earlier this month.It was necessary that they played this round of Shield cricket, that was necessary, Marsh said. I spoke to Siddle this morning, hes bowling great, Mitchell Starc bowled 20 overs so theres nothing wrong with him, ready to go.Test squad David Warner, Shaun Marsh, Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith (capt), Adam Voges, Mitchell Marsh, Peter Nevill (wk), Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle, Joe Mennie, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan LyonAuthentic Shoes Wholesale . Schenn scored the game-winning goal and added two assists to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday. Authentic Shoes For Cheap . The 19-year-old Olsen played 34 games with the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL this season. In that time, hes recorded 17 goals and 17 assists with 36 penalty minutes. http://www.cheapshoes.us.org/ . Vettel, who has already clinched his fourth straight F1 title, enters the finale with a chance to equal Michael Schumachers 13 victories in a year and match the record of nine consecutive wins by Alberto Ascari in the 1952 and 1953 seasons. Cheap Shoes Outlet Stores . Brazilian national coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has confirmed that the veteran goalkeeper is set to join Toronto on loan, saying it will help him be ready for the World Cup. Cheap Fake Shoes Online .In my heart and mind Im competing for India, luge competitor Shiva Keshavan told The Associated Press in an email interview. Every day Im flooded with messages from Indians all over the world telling me they are supporting me.The CEO of Athletics Kenya (AK) Isaac Mwangi has been provisionally suspended by the IAAF in the interests of the integrity of the sport.Mwangi was banned for 180 days pending investigation of a complaint made against him in relation to potential subversion of the anti-doping control process in Kenya.Last week, he requested 21 days leave from his role pending investigations into claims he asked for a bribe to reduce the doping bans of two athletes.According to reports in Kenya, Joy Sakari and Francisca Manunga said they were asked for around £15,000 to reduce the four-year bans they were given after testing positive at last years World Championships.Mwangi has strongly protested his innocence and says the allegations have caused him a lot of mental anguish.Three other high-ranking Kenyan athletics officials, David Okeyo, Isaiah Kiplagat and Joseph Kinyua, are currently under provisional suspensions by the IAAF having also been accused of subverting anti-doping processes.The move to provisionally suspend Mwangi will heap more pressure on the embattled Kenyans, who still face the real possibility of being banned from the Rio Olympics.African athletics chief Hamad Kalkaba Malboum said on Monday he did not support the total banning of Kenyan athletes from the Rio Olympics despite the recent doping scandal.Kalkaba, who is also an IAAF vice-president, said they were willing to support the efforts being made by the Kenyan government to reach a solution to the doping issues.Africa does not have the laboratory to mmake those substances to give to the athletes; the doping substances.dddddddddddd We dont have the scientific know how to do that, Klakaba, a Cameroonian, said in Nairobi. Kenyan concern Reports of doping ban bribes concern WADA It happened before, we can mention the case of the United States with BALCO (Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative), Marion Jones and others. They didnt ban the United States from any competition; we took sanctions against the athletes who made the wrong decisions.It happened with Canada, Ben Johnson and so on; we didnt take any decision against the country. If there are some athletes in Kenya into drugs, they could be sanctioned but I think there is no need for the world organization to ban all the athletes even the clean athletes. I consider that as a wrong view.Kalkabas comments come in the wake of last weeks warning by IAAF president Sebastian Coe that Kenyan athletes could be banned from the Rio Olympics if the country was found to be non-compliant with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).Kenya has been given another two-month grace period to adopt the WADA code, after missing a February 14 deadline.Also See:Kenya bribery reports worry WDACoe furious at Nestle decisionBolton quits 2017 committee ' ' '