Wicketkeeper Matthew Wade is disappointed, but not surprised, to have been left out of Australia's World Cup squad.
Wade was behind the stumps for every game of Australia's 4-1 series win against South Africa late last year, but didn't do enough to beat Brad Haddin to the wicketkeeper's spot in the 15-man World Cup squad announced on Sunday.
Wade admits he harboured ambitions of playing in the World Cup on home soil for a long time and, despite his disappointment, is comfortable he did everything in his power to get picked.
"I felt I was close," Wade said.
"I thought they would go with Hadds, but I felt like I had done everything that I could to put my name out there to get picked.
"When I got the call on Saturday to tell me that I wasn't in, I wasn't surprised. But I felt like I'd given myself the best chance to get picked in the team."
Wade, who has played 47 ODIs for Australia, admitted he had been weighed down by the uncertainty over the selection of the World Cup squad.
"The last two or three weeks have been a bit of a nightmare for people not knowing whether they're in or out," he said.
"It's nice that it's all done.
"They've settled on the 15, now let's go and win the World Cup."
Wade feels Australia has the best squad in the tournament and backed the home side to claim its fifth World Cup. He'll be an interested onlooker despite his disappointment at not taking part.
While his omission is a blow to his short-term ambitions, he's still confident of winning the keeping job permanently down the track and vowed to keep working hard to achieve that goal.
"From where I was 18 months ago, I've had to do a fair bit of work on my keeping," he said.
"I lost my technique there for about six months, but I got it back and the last 12 months I've been keeping really well.
"I feel like I'm always going to come good with the bat at some stage - I've just got to hang in there and putting my name up there."
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