World Cup 2023: Australia batter Steve Smith revealed that he suffered an injury in his left wrist during the second Test at Lord’s and he carried it for the final three Tests against England during the Ashes 2023 series. Smith suffered a small tear in the tendon of his left wrist which made him wear a splint for a short period of time and has now ruled him out of Australia’s white-ball tour of South Africa which gets underway from August 30.
“I did it at Lord’s. I don’t actually know the moment, it was when we were in the field. It wasn’t until that night I was like, ‘geez, what have I done here, it’s a bit sore’. I played the next game and then I had a cortisone [injection] before Old Trafford. I got back [to Australia] and I was like, ‘[It’s] still not quite right. I still can’t do a lot of things properly.’I had another scan. There was a small tear in the tendon as well as a couple of other things,” Steve Smith told Fox Cricket as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
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Steve Smith is not the only Australian player who has been ruled out of the South Africa series, left arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc is another player who has pulled out of the series. Starc has been experiencing groin soreness since his return from the UK.
Both Steve Smith and Starc are expected to be fit in time for Australia’s ODI series against India and the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup. And have been given enough time to rest and recover before the coveted tournament begins.
Australia T20 squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Jason Behrendorff, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Short, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Turner, Adam Zampa
Australia ODI squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa.