Mark Lewis-Francis has questioned the UK Athletics selection criteria that nearly cost him the chance of going to the World Championships in Osaka last summer.

The Darlaston-born sprinter says he could not understand why he was not called up in the first wave of selections and was forced to run what was effectively a second trial in the Grand Prix at Crystal Palace only days before the final team was announced.

Lewis-Francis, in Birmingham yesterday to announce the return of the national championships and Olympic trials to Alexander Stadium, believes he should have been given the third spot to Japan on account of his performance in Manchester at the end of July.

He was beaten into third place by double champion and training partner Marlon Devonish and runner-up Craig Pickering. Even though he had attained the qualifying standard the selectors refused to confirm his selection the following Monday.

Instead he was told he must beat rival Tyrone Edgar six days later, to make sure, and that rankles with the 25-year-old.

"I don't know how it works," he said. "I don't want to bad-mouth it or be disrespectful but it didn't make any sense at the trials.

"For me the trials are the point where you take first three past the post. I got that. If Tyrone did beat me at Crystal Palace I still got into the top three [at the trials].

"Tyrone came fifth at the trials - that's a championship right there. I'm no good at Grands Prix, I can't get up for them. But when it's rounds and I know I have got more than one race I am good to go.

"I qualified third at the World Trials and went 'Wow, I have got into the team.' There were two guys who had run faster than me in the UK so I was like 'OK what do I have to do to get into the team?'"

While the 100 metres at Crystal Palace was dominated by Tyson Gay and victory was never likely, Lewis-Francis went head to head with Edgar.

They were kept apart in the heats but in the final Lewis-Francis finished two places ahead in fifth and 0.02secs faster.

It was, however, not an occasion for which he retains much fondness: "I effectively had a second trial a week after the first. For me that was hard," he said.

"In the trials you get to a point where you are on a high where all the energy is used up. The week after I was flat, I was dead - there was nothing there.

"Although I was told that Crystal Palace was not a trial for me but in the back of my head I knew it was. If it had gone the other way who knows what might have happened?"

Thankfully for Lewis-Francis, three days later he was confirmed in the team and he was able to travel East with renewed hope.

In many respects his performances in Japan were acceptable.

He came through two rounds to reach the semi-final but missed out on a place in the final by one place and 0.01sec.

That meant he was able to meet with UK Athletics' sprint supremo John Trower in good heart.

"For me to miss out by one-hundredth of a second was the biggest blow ever, bigger than Manchester 2002 [when he pulled a hamstring in the final].

"I thought I'd made it into my first ever World Championship final. I was so close but so far. To be pipped by Fasuba - the guy that showed nothing in the whole championship - was terrible. Thankfully he came out and justified himself in the final when he came fourth.

"John Trower has been very supportive. We had our annual meeting and he said I'd done well.

"He said I had proved my move to London was not in vain and that I was progressing, slowly but surely."