Tait upset after 'kick in the teeth'

If Australia's selectors are chasing Shaun Tait for a recall in September he might be a bit hard to find. A disappointed Tait, who lost his Cricket Australia contract on Thursday, will continue to train after a series of injuries, but suggested he might go on a long holiday instead of waiting by the phone.

"It's pretty easy for CA to say 'get yourself ready for a tournament' when they haven't given you a contract," he told AAP. "I could quite easily duck off to the Greek Islands for a couple of months if I wanted to. But I'll keep myself fit, keep bowling and if something does come up well that'd be good."

Tait's wonky body restricted him to a handful of matches for his country last season, but he believed he was ready to bowl in the Indian Premier League two weeks ago before his lucrative stint in the Indian Premier League was vetoed by Australia's medical staff. The decision cost Tait up to US$375,000 - it's too late to join Rajasthan Royals for their final two groups games - and the faith he showed in Cricket Australia was very costly.

"When you think you're ready to go and play, I thought they had me in mind for future tournaments, so that was fair enough at the time," he said. "But to not let you go, then not pick you in a squad, then not give you a contract is a little bit of a kick in the teeth."

Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, said Tait remained in Australia's thoughts and could be considered as soon as the one-day series that follows the Ashes in September. Tait wasn't impressed by the carrot.

He will go to England for a holiday before coming back to South Australia to focus on the limited-overs formats. "It's no secret I'm trying to concentrate on the shorter form of the game and from what's happened yesterday, being dropped off a contract it probably frees me up a bit more to do that," Tait said. "I'm still going to be hopefully contracted to the SACA here, but I can explore other options with the shorter form of the game. Four-day cricket is a fair way out of my mind at the moment."

The longer formats have taken their toll on Tait and he supported the view of Chris Gayle, who said this week it "wouldn't be so sad if Test cricket dies and Twenty20 comes in". "It's a pretty big call coming from a Test captain, pretty amusing really, but I think he's probably spot-on," Tait said. "Two years ago we didn't have those options but now the Twenty20 stuff has really kicked off."