Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait to undergo fitness tests
Australia’s injured fast bowlers Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait will be undergoing fitness tests today to determine if they are fit enough to play in the upcoming fourth ODI against England on Wednesday at Adelaide.
The duo missed Australia’s third victory in the seven-match ODI series on Sunday in Sydney. The hosts lead the series 3-0 against England.
Mitchell was sidelined because of a throat infection and Tait injured his upper thigh while bowling in the second match in Hobart. According to media reports, Mitchell is expected to make a comeback at Adelaide. However, things regarding Tait’s fitness are still a bit unclear.
While talking about Shaun Tait's injury, middle order batsman David Hussey believed that it would be great for the pacer to make a comeback in front of his home crowd. “He is just going to be monitored, hopefully he pulls up okay and can play Wednesday night, if not he'll probably look to Brisbane (on Sunday) and go from there," he said.
Hussey, who played a key role in Australia’s victory on Sunday by scoring 68 runs, went on to say, “I think everybody in Australia wants to see Shaun Tait back playing because he's fantastic to watch and provides great entertainment."
The sooner the duo makes a comeback the better it is going to be for Australia because the Aussies are depending heavily on their pace attack to perform well in the 2011 World Cup, which is set to begin on the 19th of February in the subcontinent, being jointly hosted by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747.
The 27-year-old Tait, who plays for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Australia-c844 in domestic cricket is set to share the pace attack with veteran Brett Lee in the subcontinent. However, now with his injury, things have become uncertain and there are fears that he might not be able to carry Australia’s bowling attack.
At the moment, nothing can be determined before the fitness test. The Australian management will get a clear picture of the pace sensation’s condition once he goes through the test.
Australia are most likely not going to gamble with the fitness of the player and may allow him to return to the ODI series once they are convinced that he is 100% fit.
However, if Tait struggles during the fitness session, cricket Australia is surely going to pull him out of the remaining matches of the ODI series in a bid to give him time to return to full fitness before Australia’s first match in the World Cup, which is on 21 February against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zimbabwe-c3045.
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