Australia has suffered another injury less than a week after the first test at Galle with batsman Travis Head abandoned due to hamstring strain which has put him under a cloud for the shock.
Head suffered a minor injury while playing in the fourth international of a day and was ruled out of the fifth and final showdown by captain Aaron Finch who did not know if he would be ready for the opening test which will start next Wednesday.
With Steve Smith still overcoming a quads problem, the only potential replacement on the test team is reserve goalkeeper Josh Inglis, although Australian coaches have plenty of options in the ODI and even the home team. ‘Australia A also in Sri Lanka, if the Head does not recover in time. .
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Players like Glenn Maxwell, whose only hundred tries came to India, as well as Marcus Harris, Nic Maddinson, Matt Renshaw and even the versatile Mitch Marsh could appear as substitute options. No one had been put on hold yet.
The head injury was thought to be the result of a heavy field workload on a field that players have reported was very heavy, with the gardener covering more than 26km in the two games he played, with almost half of those currents.
Australian Travis Head has been playing many matches in Sri Lanka. (Photo by ISHARA S. KODIKARA / AFP) Source: AFP
Although Finch said the injury was only minor, the availability of Head’s test is still unknown.
“It’s a little more precautionary, especially where he camps,” Finch said of Head’s omission for the fifth one-day rubber tire.
“It rains in the field and the ground is quite heavy and makes a lot of Ks.
“I’m not sure what it will be like for testing, but it’s definitely not available for tomorrow.”
Smith also rested from the last two ODIs after injuring a quad, but has been batting in the nets, facing fast bowler Mitchell Starc, who should be ready for testing after taking off -sut stitches on the index finger.
Steve Smith is back on the net. (Photo by ISHARA S. KODIKARA / AFP) Source: AFP
Finch said the fast-paced wound had not healed to “100 percent” to get him playing time in the final ODI of a five-game series that the skipper was disappointed to lose.
He attributed the problem to non-team batters, to revolving doors favored by local bowling players, conditions not too different from those faced by Australians at the 50th World Cup in India. next year.
“We’re disappointed that the series isn’t in play yet,” Finch said.
“The reality is that we have been in every game, with the bat we have had opportunities to pursue reasonable totals and we did not take then.
“There have been times when we think the game has just jumped out at us, but through low – risk cricket, which is weird, the game seems to be going in one direction and you lose fast wickets.
“When you start the average order in each game, it shows that the ports are good to beat. But we haven’t maximized those associations.”