Young speedster Pat Cummins' World Cup dream remains alive but he is in doubt for Australia's next two matches after his latest injury scare.
Unlike previous episodes, however, Cummins' latest injury is not serious. He will miss days rather than months after suffering what Cricket Australia described as a "niggle" in his left side after the game against New Zealand on Saturday.
Cummins was sent for precautionary scans which "showed nothing serious", CA said. "He will be monitored by medical staff this week to determine his availability for this week's matches."
But, while he has not been ruled out of the games against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, no risks will be taken with Cummins given his injury record and value to the team. Side injuries can be nasty and even a moderate strain can result in a four-week stint on the sidelines. Cummins played an important role with bat and ball in Australia's fightback against the Kiwis, making an unbeaten seven off 30 balls with Brad Haddin then taking 2-38 from 6.1 overs.
He sent shudders around the country on Saturday when he tumbled after losing his footing in his delivery stride but the injury is not related to that fall. News of Cummins' injury comes after fellow young gun James Pattinson was diagnosed with a hamstring injury, which threatens to sideline him from the rest of the Shield season. But the Victorian remains in contention for the winter tours of the West Indies and England.
As Pattinson's Victorian teammates play matches in Glenelg and Alice Springs, respectively against South Australia and Tasmania, over the next fortnight Cricket Australia will send the 24-year-old fast-bowler to Brisbane for rehabilitation for his grade-one strain at its National Cricket Centre training headquarters.
"We can give him that extra attention with some pretty key people," said Pat Howard, CA's executive general manager of team performance, since most of the Bushrangers' staff would be in "game mode".
Howard said there was a chance Pattinson could be cleared to play in the shield final beginning on March 21, if Victoria qualify and he is able to pass CA's now well-established return-to-play criteria from hamstring injuries. "What we wouldn't like is a serious hamstring injury so we'll make sure that, if he does the work and it's reasonable and rational to [clear him for the shield final], we will. If it's not, obviously we'll put the best interests of Australian cricket first," he said.
Pattinson injured his left hamstring on Friday, bowling on the third and final day of the Bushrangers' match in Alice Springs against Queensland. The right-armer says it is the first time he has suffered a hamstring injury. Bushrangers physiotherapist Nick Adcock said the injury was not related to the back injuries that have limited Pattinson to three first-class matches over the past 19 months.
"It's an unrelated minor incident. The good thing is his back has held up, so that's probably a positive," Adcock said. "He's actually feeling fine and, even when he felt that spasm in his hamstring, he said his body felt fantastic."
Pattinson has played in two of Victoria's three Shield matches since the resumption of the red-ball season, having been rested from the match against NSW in Wagga as part of his gradual comeback. In those matches he bowled 49.4 overs across three innings, taking eight wickets at an average of 18.75. Even if Pattinson is unable to play again in the home season, Howard said he felt his comeback, which came after extensive work on his bowling action to reduce stress on his back, had been a success.
"It's a very minor setback. We see his return to play has been very positive," Howard said. "He'll be disappointed – we understand that – but we're very relaxed about this."
