Cricket round-up: Hussey and Hauritz out of World Cup for Aussies

Nathan Hauritz in pain after dislocating shoulder

Australian left-hander Mike Hussey and spinner Nathan Hauritz will not be fit to play any part in the Cricket World Cup later this month.

The Aussie duo both sustained injuries in the second one-day international against England last month but it had been hoped they would each make a recovery in time to face Zimbabwe in their opening World Cup match on February 21.

However, Hussey’s ruptured hamstring is still on the mend, and Hauritz is unable to bowl after a dislocated shoulder, as Australia join England in counting the cost of a grueling 100-day period of play.

Callum Ferguson and Jason Krejza are set to be named as their replacements, and the Aussies will welcome back captain Ricky Ponting for the tournament after he recovered from a broken finger.

Australia’s ODI series victory has done little to ease the heartache of a bitter Ashes defeat, as the nation’s board of cricket approved reviews of both the country’s governance of the game and performance of the national team.

Cricket Australia Chairman Jack Clarke said: “The reviews will get underway once the terms of reference, scope and timelines have been finalised by the independent consultants to be engaged by the board. We intend to have the reviews completed by our Annual General Meeting in October.”

Elsewhere, Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi is looking to distract the cricket world from his country’s spot-fixing saga by mounting a serious challenge for the World Cup.

Afridi has praised a complete team-effort after overcoming New Zealand in a one-day series of their own.

“You can never expect to win dependent on one or two players. Every player has to contribute in some way in a match.

“What has given us confidence that we can do well in the World Cup is that nearly every player contributed towards our series win in New Zealand,” Afridi said.

Also, The Telegraph has learned of a restructuring in the way county cricket grounds apply to host England internationals by the ECB. Currently, each of the nine category-A grounds which are fit to host such big matches battle it out at auction. Under new policies, international matches will be grouped depending on their significance and be will set at a fixed-price.

Match packages, with the most expensive costing around £16million, and the cheapest just £5million, will be considerably lower in cost than under the previous structure.
Grounds such as Lord’s, Old Trafford and Edgbaston face considerable rebuilding works in the coming years and fears of bankruptcy for some of those had emerged.

Lyall Thomas

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