Matthew Short to miss Australia’s Champions Trophy Semifinals after suffering a quad injury vs Afghanistan yesterday.
Matthew Short picked up a quad injury against Afghanistan which is expected to rule him out for the semis.
Although Short opened the batting with Travis Head, he struggled between the wickets and was mainly limited to attempting to smash boundaries after suffering the injury late in Afghanistan’s innings.
Before being caught at mid-on, he clubbed his way to 20 off 15 balls in what turned into a helpful opening partnership of 44 in 4.3 overs, although captain Steven Smith acknowledged that time was not on Short’s side.
“I think he’ll be struggling,” Smith said at the post-match presentation. “I think we saw tonight he wasn’t moving very well. Think it’s probably going to be too quick between games for him to recover.”
The squad’s spare batter, Jake Fraser-McGurk, who himself replaced the injured Mitchell Marsh, would be a like-for-like replacement for Short at the top of the order. But if someone else is promoted up to open, Australia may have other choices, including all-rounder Aaron Hardie.
If Short was declared officially out for the remainder of the competition, Cooper Connolly, a travelling reserve who is a left-handed hitter and left-arm spinner, might be included in the squad.
“We’ve got a few guys there to come in and we’ll be able to fill a job,” Smith said.
Prior to the competition, Australia had several injuries: Marcus Stoinis declared his retirement, and Marsh (back), Pat Cummins (ankle), Josh Hazlewood (hip), and Mitchell Starc (ankle) were all sidelined.
The fact that none of the two sides who advance from Group B—South Africa is the frontrunner to join Australia—will know if they will play in the semi-final in Dubai or Lahore until Sunday night’s India-New Zealand match is over complicates matters.