Moises Henriques will replace James Faulkner in the Australian Test squad of 15 after the medium pacer was ruled out of upcoming tour of South Africa.
Faulkner will miss the three-Test tour after sustaining a knee injury in his man-of-the-match performance for the Australian One Day International team in the fifth and final game against England on Sunday.
The 23-year-old underwent an arthroscopic surgery procedure in Melbourne on Tuesday and should be right to go for a series of T20 internationals against South Africa in the lead-up to the ICC World Twenty20 in Bangladesh in March.
“James’ exact rehab plan and return to training and playing will be determined after surgery but unfortunately for him, he will not be available for the upcoming Test tour of South Africa,” Australian team physio Alex Kountouris said.
“We are hopeful that he will recover in time to play the Twenty 20 games on that tour and take part in the ICC World Twenty20.”
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Shaun Marsh’s spot in the 15-man squad for South Africa is also in doubt due to a calf strain also suffered over the weekend.
His controversial inclusion to the Test squad came after years of injury setbacks and his fitness for the tour, kicking off in Centurion on February 12, will not be known for a couple of days.
Henriques is the lucky man included into the team and will receive a warmup in the opening T20 match against England in Hobart on Wednesday before jumping on a plane to South Africa.
The Portuguese-born all-rounder made his debut appearance for Australia during last summer’s tour of India where he produced impressive totals of 68 and an unbeaten 81 before being dropped ahead of the fourth Test in a squad shakeup.
“It is very unfortunate news for James but I guess that’s the way cricket goes,” Henriques said on Tuesday.
“To get the call up to the Test tour is pretty delightful.
“I certainly feel like my batting has progressed over the last couple of years, and my cricket all together.
“Probably just learning a lot more about the game and actually putting it into practice.
“When I was a bit younger I struggled to learn from mistakes and I feel like I’m learning quicker now.”
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