Jhye Richardson Out Of World Cup Due To Shoulder Injury

Even before the start of the 2019 World Cup, Australia have suffered a big injury blow with their in-form pacer Jhye Richardson being ruled out of the competition because of a dislocated shoulder. Cricket Australia confirmed the news on Wednesday (May 8) as the defending champions called up Kane Richardson as replacement.

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The right-arm pacer had injured his shoulder in the second ODI against Pakistan in March in Sharjah. There was doubt over his World Cup participation right from the stand and Richardson has now failed to recover from it. Missing Richardson will be a blow for Australia as he has been in stunning form this year. The pacer was exceptional in the series in India where in tough conditions, he picked seven wickets in five games and played a key role in Australia winning the series 3-2.

“This is obviously very disappointing news for the team and for Jhye, who has been exceptional throughout his rehabilitation process,” Australia’s physiotherapist David Beakley said. “After his most recent assessment and attempting to bowl in the nets, it was clear that Jhye was not progressing as fast as required and therefore, in consultation with selectors, we made the decision to withdraw him from the squad.

“Jhye will continue with his rehabilitation and we will look to resume bowling in the coming weeks. At this stage, we are still hopeful that he could be available for Australia A tour of England,” he added.

Josh Hazlewood, nonetheless, continues to be ignored by the selectors as the team from down under want him fully fit for the Ashes that will follow soon after the World Cup. Richardson’s replacement Kane, meanwhile, has been in good form. After finishing the last season of Big Bash League season as its highest wicket-taker, he toured India where an injury cut short his series.

Australia, meanwhile, will play their warm-up games against England and Sri Lanka on May 25 and 27 respectively. The five-time world champions will start their title-defence against Afghanistan on June 1.

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Australia’s squad:

Aaron Finch (c), Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa