Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has made himself unavailable for the upcoming limited-overs tour of South Africa to undergo surgery on his left elbow.
Top-order batsman D’Arcy Short has been called up as his replacement.
Maxwell, who had taken a break from cricket for mental health reasons in late 2019, was set to make his international comeback in South Africa after a prolific Big Bash League season.
However, the 31-year-old will now undergo surgery and is expected to be out of action for six to eight weeks.
Short comes into the side on the back of strong performances in the BBL, with both bat and ball. He scored 357 runs at 44.62, while also picking up six wickets, including a five-for.
“An opportunity has now presented itself for D’Arcy and we’re confident he’ll make the most of whatever opportunities come his way in South Africa,” said Australia National Selector Trevor Hohns.
“Like Glenn, D’Arcy is an inventive, hard-hitting batsman who offers a handy spin-bowling option. We have no doubt he will make a positive contribution to the squad.
“We are disappointed to lose Glenn this close to the tour as we were looking forward to welcoming him back to the national side in both the 20- and 50-over formats after his break during the summer. Unfortunately, the pain he has experienced in the elbow in the latter stages of the BBL increased over the weekend and he will have surgery immediately to rectify the situation.”
Maxwell acknowledged that it was not easy to pull out of the South Africa tour, but said he wasn’t confident about performing to the best of his ability due to the elbow discomfort.
“Representing Australia is the highest honour in cricket and something I cherish,” he said.
“I was not confident that I could perform at the international level with my elbow in its current state and have decided to undergo surgery straight away to fix the issue. I would like to thank Justin Langer, Ben Oliver, Trevor Hohns and the whole Australian squad for their understanding.”
All-rounder Marcus Stoinis, who was left out of the original squads, has still not found a place in both T20 and ODI set-ups.
T20I squad: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitch Marsh, D’Arcy Short, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.
ODI squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey (vc), Pat Cummins (vc), Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitch Marsh, D’Arcy Short, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.
In partnership with ANA and Sports Leo
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