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Saturday, January 22, 2011

Doherty to replace Hauritz for Australia

Doherty has been recalled to the Australian side for the third and fourth one-day internationals against England

Tasmanian spinner Xavier Doherty was back in Australia's World Cup calculations on Saturday, just days after his state captain lambasted national selectors for casting him aside.
Doherty was recalled to the Australian side for the third and fourth one-day internationals against England after fellow spinner Nathan Hauritz suffered a serious shoulder injury that may require surgery in Australia's 46-run win in Hobart on Friday.
The 28-year-old Doherty played in the first match of the series last Sunday, his third ODI, but went wicketless and was subsequently left out of Australia's 15-man World Cup squad, named Tuesday.
Hauritz was named in the World Cup squad at Doherty's expense and recalled for Friday's game, but his injury may open the door for the left-hander to be part of Australia's title defence when the World Cup starts next week.
Australian team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said Hauritz faced possible surgery on his shoulder and confirmed his World Cup hopes were in doubt.
"Nathan had scans this afternoon following his shoulder dislocation yesterday," Kountouris said.
"These scans are used to assess the amount of structural damage caused by the dislocation and will help guide the treatment of this injury," the physiotherapist said.
"We will now seek a specialist opinion to determine the next course of action.
"His availability for the ICC Cricket World Cup will be determined in the coming weeks."
Hilditch said he was confident Doherty would fill the breach in the ODI tournament.
"Xavier has an excellent domestic one-day record and we are sure he will seize this opportunity to again play for Australia," he said.
Doherty had been Australia's premier spinner in domestic limited overs cricket in recent seasons, and also made his Test debut during the Ashes.
However, his omission from the World Cup squad sparked criticism of the embattled national selectors from Tasmanian captain George Bailey, who said Doherty had been "shafted".
As well as Hauritz, there is a fitness cloud over injury-plagued paceman Shaun Tait, who suffered a thigh strain on Friday and appears certain to miss Sunday's third game at the SCG at least.
Fellow speedster Mitchell Johnson is battling a throat infection and will miss Sunday's match, with Victorian paceman Peter Siddle on standby for the game.

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