Ryan McLaren hurt by World Cup snub

"I would have thought I'd done enough," is how Ryan McLaren, the South Africa allrounder, has described his omission from the team's final squad for the 2015 ICC World Cup. Having been a regular member of South Africa's limited-overs squads in the past two years, and finishing 2014 as the their second-highest wicket-taker in ODIs, McLaren found his name missing from the list of 15 for next month's mega-event in Australia and New Zealand, which left him somewhat miffed.

Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, McLaren admitted that he had been shocked at his exclusion. "It was a tough few days. There was a lot of disappointment, there was shock," he said. "The 48 hours after the phone call was pretty emotional but I am over the worst now. The decision has been made. I can't complain and moan, it's done now. When I was asked to play for the SA A side, I thought it was a great opportunity to get away from what's happened, to focus on what I think is a really good series and in the same breath to keep playing and make sure that I am sharp."

McLaren, 31, featured in 14 ODIs and two Twenty20 internationals in 2014 to follow 27 ODIs and a couple of T20Is the year before, meaning that he was a regular member of South Africa's limited-overs setup. In ODIs last year, he took 23 wickets at an average of 25.34 and an economy rate of 4.60 but did not manage to make much of an impact in nine innings, scoring 75 runs at 12.50 with a best of 24.

"Over and above the disappointment is the fact that you have been part of a really special group of guys, a really special team culture and that's almost more important than anything else," McLaren said. "There are close mates and close friends and we've really spent a lot of time together and I'll be missing that. But there's more to life than just cricket. I want to still enjoy playing. I don't know what the future is going to be, what will be expected of me and whether I will be involved. All I can do is put in performances."

While announcing the World Cup squad last week, South Africa's convener of selectors, Andrew Hudson, did not get into specifics of why certain players did not feature. Since then, the former Test opener has been quoted as saying in a local newspaper that allrounder Wayne Parnell had what he termed as an "X-factor", which left McLaren to put forth his credentials.

"I've performed consistently for two years. Whether some people see that as being the X-factor or not or whether they see that as being consistent, it's not for me to decide what other people's opinions are," he said. "If they want to express their opinion, that's their opinion. I can't control it. Parny has got the X-factor - he is a serious cricketer."

McLaren added that he had not been given a detailed reason from the South African selectors for his exclusion. "I think it was basically between myself and Wayne as allrounders," he said. "They decided to go with Wayne and that's it."

Currently in England with South Africa A, McLaren - who has overall played 54 ODIs, 12 T20Is and two Tests - said that he could look to seal a county cricket deal this summer but not as a Kolpak player. "It is an option to go to England, but as an overseas player. These offers came in before, not as a result of being left out," he said. "My commitment is still with Cricket South Africa."