Bartlett’s tour appears to be over after suffering a side strain in his fourth over in Southampton with Dwarshuis flying to the UK but not officially added to the ODI squad
Xavier Bartlett leaves the field with an injury • AFP/Getty Images
Australia are facing the prospect of losing another pace bowler from their UK tour after Xavier Bartlett pulled up with a side strain in the first T20I against England in Southampton.
He had overcome a no-ball from his first delivery, which saw Phil Salt taken at mid-off by captain Mitchell Marsh who had not heard the call and started to celebrate, to claim the wicket of Jordan Cox later in the powerplay. In a rare sight of a quick operating unchanged in a T20, Bartlett was given his four overs off the reel by Marsh as he extracted swing on a cold night but aborted his attempt to complete his last two deliveries.
If, as seems likely, Bartlett’s tour is over it would add to the loss of Spencer Johnson (side) and Nathan Ellis (hamstring) from the trip. Riley Meredith, who had been called up for the Scotland series after Josh Hazlewood’s calf injury, was retained for the England T20 matches after Ellis was ruled out with an injury initially sustained in the Hundred.
Bartlett’s injury opens up the prospect of Meredith coming into the side for the second T20I in Cardiff on Friday. Allrounders Aaron Hardie and Cooper Connolly are the other options.
The selectors had not confirmed who would come into the one-day squad which Ellis was set to be part of. New South Wales left-armer Ben Dwarshuis will fly in ahead of the ODIs although currently he is there to provide cover and has not officially been added to the squad. Dwarshuis is uncapped in ODIs but has played three T20Is.
Bartlett had not been due to be part of the ODI leg despite bursting onto the scene with consecutive four-wicket hauls against West Indies earlier this year. A side injury would likely put him in doubt for the start of the domestic season with Queensland with the Marsh Cup beginning later this month before the Sheffield Shield starts in early October.
Hazlewood made an impressive return to action in Southampton with 2 for 32 from his four overs which included the key wicket of Liam Livingstone who had threatened to bring England back into the contest. He and Mitchell Starc will be part of the one-day series but Pat Cummins is missing the whole tour to work on strength and condition ahead of the home summer.
Andrew McGlashan is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo
I’m Manas Ranjan Sahoo: Founder of “Webtirety Software”. I’m a Full-time Software Professional and an aspiring entrepreneur, dedicated to growing this platform as large as possible. I love to Write Blogs on Software, Mobile applications, Web Technology, eCommerce, SEO, and about My experience with Life.
