Melbourne, February 03: Australia have suffered a blow with their fast bowler Peter Siddle ruled out of the upcoming home series against West Indies and the tour of New Zealand with a stress fracture of the back.
Siddle, a key member of the side during the last year, was a significant omission from the squad named for the first two matches of the one-day series against West Indies starting February 7. Shane Watson and Doug Bollinger, who were rested for the last two one-dayers against Pakistan recently, were reinstated to the 13-man squad.
“Peter experienced back pain during the Commonwealth Bank Series. The source of the pain was investigated after the fifth ODI and unfortunately scans revealed that he has a lower back stress fracture,” said the Australia team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris. “The nature of this injury means that Peter will require a long rehabilitation period and as such he’ll be unavailable for the remainder of the domestic summer and the tour of New Zealand.”
Siddle has been one of Australia’s busiest players over the past year but has not yet made himself a must-pick player in the shorter formats. He has also been ruled out of the rest of the domestic season. Australia have been cautious about the workload for their young fast men with Ben Hilfenhaus already battling a long-term knee injury.
Announcing the largely unchanged squad, the chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said: “The squad performed extremely well against Pakistan and will look to continue this form against a very good West Indies one-day side.
“Adam Voges is extremely unlucky to be omitted from the squad after having limited opportunities against Pakistan. However with the returning players and the need to get the right balance in the squad of 13, Adam has unfortunately missed out on this occasion.”
Australia squad: Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Doug Bollinger, Brad Haddin (wk), Nathan Hauritz, Ryan Harris, James Hopes, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Marsh, Clint McKay, Shane Watson, Cameron White.
——–Agencies