Khawaja out and Stoinis a concern
AUSTRALIA will limp into their World Cup semi-final without Usman Khawaja who has been ruled out of the tournament with a hamstring strain.
But he is not their only concern, with all-rounder Marcus Stoinis battling a second side strain in as many weeks although it is on other side this time.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Matthew Wade has been called up as a replacement for Khawaja who is now in a race to be fit for the Ashes.
Mitchell Marsh is on standby for Stoinis if he, too, gets ruled out of action, with both replacements joining from the Australia A squad who have been touring the UK and who are due to play the full Australia team as their warm-up for the Ashes. Wade has been in blistering form with the bat, hitting two hundreds at the start of the tour against Derbyshire and Northamptonshire and could leapfrog Peter Handscomb, who replaced Shaun Marsh, straight into the team.
Australia coach Justin Langer said: “Ussie’s got a hamstring strain so he’ll be out for probably three to four weeks which is a real shame but we have to work hard on getting him up for the Ashes now. Hopefully he’ll be right. It’s on the best part you can get. It’s nothing to do with his tendon, it’s as good a strain as you can get basically.
“With all the help and the rehab he’ll get hopefully he’ll be right for the practice game or certainly the first Test.
“It’s such a pity for him, he’s been so integral to how we’ve been playing. Like Shaun Marsh I feel sad for him that he’s going to miss the World Cup semi-final.”