Read dumbfounded by the Ashes

England wicket-keeper Chris Read has told the BBC that the decision to drop him for the start of the Ashes was difficult to get over.

Read told the BBC that “it was a knockout blow, bewildering and hard to get over. There were a lot of dark days, I wondered what I was doing out there.”

“I could not understand how after playing the last few games of the year I was not going to start the Ashes, especially having played well in those two Tests,” Read added.

Read made his return for the final two Ashes Tests where he struggled with the bat scoring 35 runs from four innings at an average of 11.66 with a highest score of 26 not out but was tidy behind the stumps taking 11 catches and one stumping.

Read was also over-looked for the World Cup squad with the England selectors preferring the experience of Paul Nixon who impressed many during the Commonwealth Bank Series.

There is talk of James Foster and Matt Prior being in the running for the England wicket-keepers job at the start of the English summer with it appearing as though they have the inside running over Read.