NEW DELHI: Australia is aware of the potential risk associated with having Travis Head in their World Cup squad, given his recent hand injury but chief selector George Bailey on Saturday expressed optimism over his recovery.
Australia included Head, who fractured his hand in Centurion earlier this month, in the 15-member Australian World Cup squad as they kick-off their campaign against India in Chennai on October 8th.
Bailey said Head is expected to wear a cast on his left hand for at least four more weeks and it will have an impact on his return during the round-robin stage of the tournament.
“First and foremost, it’s about him recovering and that’s the hurdle he’s got to overcome. There’s not a specific date in terms of a game (for his return),” Bailey told reporters on Friday.
“We are aware of the risk that if there is a setback there at some point then it makes it really challenging for Trav.”
Bailey said, “He’s a really important player for us. He is certainly a player who is on our first choice XI. Hopefully when he does come online, he can have a really important impact for us towards the back end of the tournament.”
Marnus Labuschagne was a last-minute inclusion in the squad in place of injured Ashton Agar, a change that left five-time champions Australia with just one specialist spinner in Adam Zampa.
All-rounder Glenn Maxwell recorded match-winning figures of 4-40 with his off-spin in the final ODI against India on Wednesday to make an instant impact on his return from injury.
Bailey said Maxwell will be a force in the spin department alongside Zampa.
“I think it’s unfair on ‘Maxi’ to say he’s not a specialist spinner,” Bailey said on Maxwell’s ability to turn the ball.
“I think his white-ball spinning record is pretty handy and I think you could very much consider him a frontline option. We certainly consider that we have two frontline spinners within our first choice XI.”
(With inputs from AFP)
Australia included Head, who fractured his hand in Centurion earlier this month, in the 15-member Australian World Cup squad as they kick-off their campaign against India in Chennai on October 8th.
Bailey said Head is expected to wear a cast on his left hand for at least four more weeks and it will have an impact on his return during the round-robin stage of the tournament.
“First and foremost, it’s about him recovering and that’s the hurdle he’s got to overcome. There’s not a specific date in terms of a game (for his return),” Bailey told reporters on Friday.
“We are aware of the risk that if there is a setback there at some point then it makes it really challenging for Trav.”
Bailey said, “He’s a really important player for us. He is certainly a player who is on our first choice XI. Hopefully when he does come online, he can have a really important impact for us towards the back end of the tournament.”
Marnus Labuschagne was a last-minute inclusion in the squad in place of injured Ashton Agar, a change that left five-time champions Australia with just one specialist spinner in Adam Zampa.
All-rounder Glenn Maxwell recorded match-winning figures of 4-40 with his off-spin in the final ODI against India on Wednesday to make an instant impact on his return from injury.
Bailey said Maxwell will be a force in the spin department alongside Zampa.
“I think it’s unfair on ‘Maxi’ to say he’s not a specialist spinner,” Bailey said on Maxwell’s ability to turn the ball.
“I think his white-ball spinning record is pretty handy and I think you could very much consider him a frontline option. We certainly consider that we have two frontline spinners within our first choice XI.”
(With inputs from AFP)
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