Steven Smith to Undergo Surgery on his Elbow

Former Australian Cricket team skipper Steven Smith will undergo surgery on his elbow to fix an elbow injury with less than three months to serve on his year-long suspension. Meanwhile, he will go under the knife to repair a ligament in his right elbow on Tuesday. As a result, Steven Smith is likely to be in a brace for six weeks, post which he will have to go through rehabilitation.

A Cricket Australia spokesperson said on Saturday his return to playing would be clear once they remove the brace. Steven Smith returned home from the Bangladesh Premier League overnight to undergo scans on the injured elbow. The injury is a major blow to Smith, whose 12-month suspension for his involvement in the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal ends on March 28. However, the setback comes with less than six months to go before Australia’s World Cup title defence in England, immediately followed by an away Ashes series.

Steven Smith played two matches for Comilla Victorians in the Bangladesh Premier League, where he scored 16 and zero. The ban handed down by Cricket Australia in the wake of the Newlands incident precludes Smith and former teammate David Warner from playing international cricket and domestic cricket in Australia. Both players have instead played in Canada, the Caribbean and Bangladesh in T20 competitions, and on home soil, they have played NSW Premier Cricket with success.

However, it is still uncertain when Steven Smith and David Warner will return to international cricket, limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch said that both are welcomed in the team.