(REUTERS) – Doug Bollinger’s replacement in the Australia squad will be announced in the next couple of days with Mike Hussey possibly in line for a World Cup reprieve, captain Ricky Ponting said yesterday. Australian fast bowler Bollinger was ruled out of the World Cup with a left ankle injury and subsequently returned home.
“They (selectors) have been saying all this week that they will wait till the end of this Sri Lankan game and make an announcement then,” Ponting said after rain forced the abandonment of their showdown yesterday with the co-hosts.
“It’s obviously to give Mike Hussey an opportunity to play a Sheffield Shield game back in Australia. The one-day final is now out of the way in which (Peter) Siddle and Dirk Nannes both played as well.
“They got a good look at those two plus a good look at Hussey this week. So I am pretty sure that the decision is going to be made in the next couple of days.”
The injury to Bollinger has brightened the chances of the experienced Hussey being handed a dream comeback after he was omitted from the squad last month, with selectors fearful he would not recover in time from a hamstring surgery.
That decision caused a furore in Australia with Hussey intimating he would have been fit to play most of the event.
The 35-year-old Hussey was initially selected for the February 19-April 2 tournament on the sub-continent despite rupturing a hamstring but was later replaced in the 15-man squad by Callum Ferguson.
Ponting said he had no preference for a batsman or a fast bowler to fill Bollinger’s slot.
“Whoever we bring I think will add a lot to our squad. Mike Hussey was someone who we always were going to miss,” Ponting said.
“Having a left-hander in the middle order with so much experience he will be a great benefit to our team.
“But at the same time our point of difference in the tournament so far has been our fast bowlers.
“If one of those happen to go down, then we haven’t got a replacement. So they can take a look at it both ways. But whichever way they go, I will be pretty happy,” he added with a smile on his face.
Hussey’s career had been written off by many in the Australian media before the Ashes 3-1 defeat by England but he proved one of the few home success stories. He is the older brother of David Hussey who is also in the World Cup squad.
An International Cricket Council spokesman told Reuters earlier yesterday that there was nothing in the tournament regulations preventing Mike Hussey rejoining the Australian World Cup squad despite having been once replaced himself.