SYDNEY: Jhye Richardson’s hopes of playing at this year’s ICC Cricket World Cup have received a boost after scans on his injured shoulder ruled out any bone damage or fracture for the young Australian fast bowler.

The 22-year-old completed only half his quota of overs in last Sunday’s second One-day International against Pakistan in Sharjah before he was forced off the field having dislocated his bowling shoulder when trying to save a boundary.

Richardson, who had been considered a certainty for Australia’s World Cup squad, sat out the rest of the match with his arm in a sling and was sent home immediately for scans.

“The scans demonstrated the usual soft tissue damage we expect following a dislocation but fortunately has excluded any bone damage or fracture,” Richard Saw, Australian men’s team doctor, said in a statement on Thursday. “We are hopeful that Jhye will not require surgery but he will see a shoulder specialist early next week for a further opinion. We will be able to provide an update in respect to next steps once we have all the information on the table.”

With injured regular quicks Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood already racing to be fit for the World Cup, Australia can ill afford more casualties.

The right-arm paceman has had a strong season during which he made his test debut and also established himself in the 50-overs side.

“Everyone in the Australian camp is hopeful, I’m hopeful and in high spirits,” Richardson was quoted as saying by Cricket Australia website. “I’m not ruling out the World Cup at this stage, that’s definitely not an option. It’s all about getting the shoulder right at this stage.

“JL [Australia’s head coach Justin Langer] said he’s pleased with how I’ve been going about my business, I was really satisfied with how I played in India and going into the Pakistan series as well I was happy with the way I was playing.

“The shoulder injury is unfortunate, but these things do happen and I’m eager to bounce back quickly.”

Meanwhile, Australia have received a boost with Hazlewood and Starc resuming bowling this week and on track to be fit for their World Cup defence.

Hazlewood has been sidelined since January with a back injury, while Starc pulled out of Australia’s Twenty20 and one-day tour of India last month with a ‘substantial’ muscle tear.

“When the squad gets announced I’ll probably be 65-70 percent and I’ve still got a good four to five weeks from that date to get ready to play one-day cricket,” Hazlewood said in a Cricket Australia podcast.

Australia’s World Cup squad must be named by April 23 with the tournament starting on May 30 in England.

The team will have a training camp in Brisbane in early May and are expected to play some warm-up games against New Zealand before heading to Britain.

“I don’t think I’ll be fit for those but the one-day warm-up games in England I think I’ll be right,” said Hazlewood.

Starc, the 2015 World Cup player-of-the-tournament, is also faring well in his comeback since picking up the injury during the second Test against Sri Lanka in early February.

“He [Starc] looks fine, he started bowling as well this week,” Hazlewood said. “He’s coming off not as big a break as me so won’t take him long to get up and running. He seems to be heading in the right direction.”

Published in Dawn, March 29th, 2019