Sean Abbott has been added to Australia’s T20 squad and is in line for his first international cap in five years after fellow seamer Andrew Tye was sidelined by injury.
Tye was today ruled out of the three-match Gillette T20 Series against Sri Lanka after sustaining an elbow injury during a fielding drill at Adelaide Oval on Friday afternoon.
Tye will consult a specialist in Sydney to determine the extent of the damage and a timeline for his return to playing, but he won’t take part in the Sri Lanka series that begins at Adelaide Oval tomorrow.
Aaron Finch set for late fitness test ahead of first Sri Lanka T20I
Australia’s limited-overs captain Aaron Finch is due for a late fitness test and continuous assessment of his……
Cricket Australia today confirmed that 27-year-old Abbott will join the men’s squad when they assemble in Brisbane on Monday, where the second match of the Sri Lanka campaign begins two days later.
Tye will remain with the squad for tomorrow’s game in Adelaide before having his injury assessed by specialists.
Abbott, who was part of the Australia A tour to the UK earlier this year, has played one ODI and three T20 internationals for Australia, the most recent of which came against South Africa at the SCG in November 2014.
The New South Wales seamer has been a proven performer in the KFC Big Bash League over recent summers, and has been in brilliant form for the Blues in the Marsh Sheffield Shield and One Day Cup competitions so far this season.
Australia T20 captain Aaron Finch conceded that Tye’s skills-set and his vast experience in T20 cricket – particularly bowling during the pressure-cooker ‘death overs’ – will be difficult to replace.
But Abbott returns to the national squad having claimed eight wickets at 20.12 in his two Shield outings this summer, and five at an economy rate of 3.95 runs per over in his five domestic one-day appearances.
Finch confirmed that Tye had suffered the damage to his right elbow during the men’s team’s first training session of the home summer on Friday.
Finch had spent much of the preceding week concerned about his own fitness, as the side strain he sustained in the summer’s opening Sheffield Shield match showed little improvement.
But since arriving in Adelaide last Wednesday, Finch’s injury has steadily improved and after nursing himself through Friday’s fielding drills he went full throttle at training today and declared himself fit to play tomorrow afternoon provided he suffers no adverse effects from the increased workload between now and Sunday’s 2pm starting time.
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