Nine days before the first Ashes Test in Perth, Australia, have suffered another setback, with pacer Sean Abbott ruled out of the opening match due to a moderate-grade hamstring injury.
The news comes as a blow to the hosts, who are already dealing with fitness concerns in their pace department. Fellow fast bowler Josh Hazlewood also experienced tightness in his right hamstring during the ongoing Sheffield Shield season, but precautionary scans have cleared him of any muscle strain.
Both bowlers were participating in domestic matches to fine-tune their preparation for the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) series opener, scheduled to begin on November 21 in Perth.
Abbott’s injury adds to Australia’s growing list of absentees, with regular skipper Pat Cummins already ruled out of the first Test as he continues to recover from a back issue.
Cummins, who was present at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) to watch Hazlewood’s outing, expressed relief after seeing his teammate’s condition improve.
“Joshy was pretty confident when he walked out, so hopefully shouldn’t be too much of an issue,” he told cricket.com.au.
“(Josh) knows his body really well. I think he was a little bit worried, wanted to get it checked out. I only saw him briefly, but he was a bit happier afterwards,” he added.
Speaking about his own recovery, Cummins said he was targeting a full return by the second Test at the Gabba.
“(The Gabba) is what we’re building towards,” Cummins said.
“Hopefully by Perth I’m up there near 100 per cent, and then see where we’re at. It’s still pretty aggressive, going from nothing to trying to get ready for a Test match in four weeks. But we’re going to give it a good shot,” he added.