ICC World Cup 2019 | Kane Richardson to replace injured Jhye Richardson in Australia squad
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Kane Richardson has been called up to replace pacer Jhye Richardson in the 15-man Australia squad for the upcoming World Cup in England and Wales starting on May 30. The latter had injured himself during the ODI series in the UAE against Pakistan earlier this year and has failed to recover in time.
Australian fast bowler Jhye Richardson has been ruled out of what would have been his first-ever World Cup appearance. The 22-year-old had injured his shoulder while diving to stop a ball in the second ODI against Pakistan on March 24. He has been out of action since then and has failed to recover in time.
He will be replaced by Kane Richardson, who had also played in the Pakistan series for two ODIs. The 28-year-old has tipped Josh Hazlewood, who was also recovering from a stress fracture in the back, to find a place in the squad. The selectors had earlier stated that they wanted Hazlewood to be fresh for the Ashes which will be played right after the World Cup. The team physiotherapist David Beakley was disappointed that Jhye had to miss out.
"This is obviously very disappointing news for the team and for Jhye, who has been exceptional throughout his rehabilitation process. 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,” said Beakley in a Cricket Australia media release.
"Jhye will continue with his rehabilitation and we will look to resume bowling in the coming weeks," he added.
Kane was already present at the pre-World Cup training camp in Brisbane. The right-hander had made his ODI debut back in 2014 and has scalped 29 wickets in 20 matches since then. Jhye, on the other hand, had debuted in 2018 and has 24 wickets to his name in just 12 matches.
The defending champions will play two warm-up matches for the World Cup on May 25 and May 27, followed by their first fixture against Afghanistan on June 1.
Revised squad: Aaron Finch (captain), Usman Khawaja, David Warner, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa
