Jason Gillespie, the Yorkshire head coach, has been left bemused by Liam Plunkett’s omission from England’s Test squad to tour South Africa

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Nov-2015<!–#cricinfo_inserttype: videoobject_id: 945201caption: 'Gutted I'm not going' – Plunkettsize: 3geoalt_video_object_id: 945201geoalt_video_caption: 'Gutted I'm not going' – PlunkettJason Gillespie, the Yorkshire head coach, has been left bemused by Liam Plunkett's omission from England's Test squad to tour South Africa.Despite being in the squad for the recent series against Pakistan, Plunkett has been leapfrogged by Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan and Mark Footitt for the South Africa trip, even though England will be without Steven Finn and Mark Wood due to injury.Plunkett was close to playing the final Test against Pakistan in Sharjah after Wood was ruled out due to his chronic ankle problem before the selectors opted to recall Samit Patel as a third spin-bowling allrounder. He was then added to the ODI and T20 squads when Wood was sent home for further assessment, but is still waiting for his first appearance of the UAE tour."I have only exchanged a couple of messages with Liam, I know he is bitterly disappointed,'' Gillespie said. "I will be catching up with him soon for a chat. My only hope is that he has been given a specific reason by the selectors as to why. We were left scratching our heads a little bit at Yorkshire."He has gone from almost playing to then not in the squad, in conditions that you would think suit him. Fast, bouncy wickets, he is one of the fastest bowlers in the country, so that is an interesting one."I'm sure the selectors have their reasons, as long as that has been communicated with clarity to Liam – that is my hope."Plunkett played the last of his 13 Tests against India, at Lord's, in 2014 having been recalled at the beginning of the summer following a gap in international cricket of four years – and an absence from the Test side of seven years."We've got two or three guys that have come back from injury that, at this stage, we think are in front of Liam," Trevor Bayliss, the England coach, said, "and obviously Footitt coming in gives us something different, being left arm and able to swing the ball. It is tough on someone like Liam who has been in and around the squads for the last year or so but unfortunately that's just the way the game is at the top level."He's a guy that people love having around in the team and he gives you 100% every single time he's on the training paddock and every time we pick him. He'll be disappointed I'm sure but I know he'll be doing everything he can to get back in the squad."Plunkett made his Test debut a decade ago against Pakistan, in Lahore, on the 2005-06 tour. He went onto play nine Tests by mid-2007 before being dropped as inconsistency plagued his game. It was not until a move to Yorkshire in late 2012 that his career was revived. He returned to the Test side against Sri Lanka, at Lord's, in 2014 before claiming a career-best 5 for 64 in the next match at his adopted home ground of Headingley where he took nine scalps overall.