IN the end, the peculiar case of Aljaz Bedene proved only to be the most elaborate of Davis Cup final red herrings. But for such a modest, unassuming chap, the naturalised Slovenian hasn't half succeeded in causing a rammy.

Yesterday was meant to be the day that this 26-year-old from Ljubljana, who has been resident in Welwyn Garden City since 2008, finally learned if he was eligible to represent Britain in next weekend's Davis Cup final in Ghent. Okay, so the timing was unfortunate, as it was all occurring on the very day that Leon Smith had to name for Britain's biggest team tennis tie in the last 80-odd years, but at least yesterday he had the promise of an answer. Having become a UK citizen, his case was that there should be no impediment to him playing for Britain, despite the fact that he had featured in three dead rubbers for Slovenia between 2010 and 2012, all prior to an International Tennis Federation (ITF) rule change to prevent players from appearing for two different nations. As World No 45, he was clearly Britain's second best singles player, ahead of Kyle Edmund (World No 99), James Ward (155) and Dan Evans (185). He and his agent faithfully travelled out to Prague, with the wholehearted support of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA).

Instead, all he got was a different date for an answer from the ITF board, some time in late March. Depending on who you listened to, his case had either been adjourned or postponed, neatly ruling him out of a dramatic debut at the Davis Cup final. While he understandably took to social media to speak of his disappointment, a full-blown international incident was ensuing into a messy outcome from which neither party came out of looking particularly clever.

An LTA statement also spoke of their "disappointment" at the affair, code word for being rather miffed indeed. In the wake of the no confidence expressed in sporting governing bodies such as FIFA, the IAAF, the IOC, and the UCI, surely this was another example of a world sporting governing body being too intransigent, inflexible and scared to reach an opinion?

As the day moved on, though, further details coming to light only made the matter murkier. It turns out, the LTA hadn't formally asked the ITF to consider Bedene for British eligiblity until May 2015, months after the process of his change of nationality was under way, although this may have been due to the fact they had been advised to wait until he had his passport first. The timeline was tightened further as the LTA had wanted an appeal in person to the ITF board. And not only that, but the case was complicated by a lengthy submission from the LTA received only last week, which was said to spark further questions from the ITF board.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of it all, Smith - the Scot who is Great Britain's Davis Cup captain - was entitled to shrug his shoulders at it all. So was the rest of the team that got them to this stage, and will now have to complete the job. Having never had the services of Bedene on the nation's incredible journey from Euro/Africa Zone II to the cusp of world glory, it is impossible to miss him. Smith named a five-man squad of Andy and Jamie Murray, Edmund, Ward and doubles expert Dominic Inglot, with Ward for now at least the one man not officially nominated for the tie. The final four-man team can be altered up until one hour before the draw, while an extended group including the likes of Dan Evans and Scotland's Colin Fleming are also likely to be invited along by their inclusive captain for the occasion. So too could be Bedene, even if he is unable to play.

"We've won three matches so far with that squad this year," said Jamie Murray last night. "So why not one more match? Everyone's really excited to play and fired up to do their best to try to lift the trophy."

While Smith still has a major judgement call to make between Ward and Edmund, the chance of a Davis Cup final debut for the younger man - winner of a Challenger event in Argentina as recently as Sunday - was something to behold. "That was a great achievement, wasn't it?" said Jamie. "It is a great effort for him to go down there and win a challenger on clay. I don't know when the last British person would have done that. He beat two guys in the semis and final who have been top-50 players and he crushed them. So he's obviously feeling good about his game. That bodes well for Davis Cup."

It is Andy Murray, of course, who really holds the destiny of this tie in his hands. He could play all three days, although the presence of Inglot means he may not have to. "James has the experience of playing in the big matches, which obviously counts for something," said Murray. "Kyle, having won the tournament on clay, and beaten two Argentinians over there, will be confident on the surface, which is important as well. He's in the top 10 in the world in that age bracket for an 18- to 21-year-old so the future for him is bright. Whether he plays in this tie or not, he's going to be a very important part of the team in the future. Aljaz would have had the best level out of everyone, but he's never played a Davis Cup match before, like Kyle. So there were pros and cons for everyone.

"But whoever gets picked as our number two player, their job is to go out there and try as hard as they can and give their best effort," added the World No 2. "And that, in my opinion, in the tie against USA was what James did. In the tie against Australia, Evo [Dan Evans] did that against [Bernard] Tomic. Although he didn’t win, he fought unbelievably hard, gave his best effort and no one was disappointed with the outcome of that match because he tried his best. That's all that everyone in the team wants from each other."