JAMIE BAULCH won't be holding his breath waiting for a call from the British selectors ahead of the World Championships in Paris next month.

The 30-year-old track star from Newport already knows that a place in the individual team is beyond him after crashing out of the 400m semi-final at the Norwich Union World Trials and AAAs Championships in Birmingham at the weekend, but the former world indoor champion isn't even hopeful of a slot in the 4x400m for the event at the Stade de France.

He said: "I don't think I'll be going. I don't deserve to go with my current form.

"I suppose it's back to the drawing-board and more hard training."

Baulch has excelled in the 4x400m relay in recent years, even when his individual form has waned, and last year picked up a silver medal with Wales at the Commonwealth Games, and a gold with Great Britain at the European Championships in Munich.

After a strong start in the semi-final in Birmingham, Baulch agonisingly missed out on a place in yesterday's final by two hundredths of a second after he faded in the last few metres of the home straight, allowing James Chatt to pip him to the fourth-place finish he needed to progress. Baulch clocked 46.84 seconds for fifth.

He said: "I can't explain what happened. There is nothing specific I can think of. I did have a slight foot problem three weeks ago, which meant I missed some training.

"I did go off hard, but so did the rest of the guys. I was coming down the home straight and I saw Jared Deacon come past me, but I thought, 'don't panic,' and I wasn't aware of anyone coming up behind me but then I just lost it on the line.

"I was feeling really weak and I am disappointed. The maddening thing is that nobody is doing any special this year and I should have done well.

"I was really confident after winning the bronze medal at the World Indoors, but it hasn't come together for me outdoors. I'm just going to talk with my coach, Linford Christie, and see where we go from here."