DIMITRI MASCARENHAS must be at his wits' end. When the England selectors decided on their 30 best one-day players, Hampshire's all-rounder must have been in the mix.

But you have to wonder after another nonsensical decision from David Graveney, Geoff Miller and Duncan Fletcher.

If there is a place for Alex Wharf and Graham Napier, there should be room for the leading wicket-taker in the National League last season.

It makes you wonder what he has done to upset English cricket's three wise men.

Maybe it was his haircut, but the red Mohawk was gone by the time Mascarenhas took a hat-trick in front of the Sky Sports cameras on Friday night.

An England squad place is earned over a number of seasons, which is just why Mascarenhas should be playing for a place in the final squad of 14. But to follow up his figures of 5 for 14 - the best in the two-year history of the Twenty20 Cup - with 1 for 12 from his nine overs against Lancashire two days later was typical of Mascarenhas's consistency.

It should have been final confirmation to the selectors that here was a player ready to make the step up to the international arena. But to not even give him the incentive of a place in the final 14 was cruel.

The selectors cannot be certain that he does not have the ability to play at a higher level. If he had another yard of pace he would be a world beater but, as it is, he is skilful enough with the ball to warrant a place in a 30-man provisional England squad.

The selectors do not seem to know what they want. Maybe they think that Mascarenhas will be cannon fodder against better batsmen and on better wickets but the fact of the matter is that the ICC Champions Trophy is being played in England in September.

And if Mascarenhas's bowling does not come off, his batting surely will.

It's not as if he has only just burst on to the scene. His ability in the one-day game has been well known on the county circuit since he won a Natwest Trophy man-of-the-match award for his performances with bat and ball (3 for 28 and 73) against Lancashire SIX years ago.

If anything, he has been a bit below par in the National League this season, but only by the high standards he has set himself since making his Hampshire debut in 1996.

He was last year's outstanding bowler in the National League and, at 26, age cannot be against him. Not when Glamorgan seamer Wharf, one of the ten uncapped players in the squad, turned 29 last month.

At least Chris Tremlett's call-up shows that playing for Hampshire does not stop you from playing for your country.

But if Mascarenhas was a Yorkshire player he would probably be an international veteran by now.