Matthew Short Ruled Out Of Champions Trophy: The Australian cricket team has been handed another injury blow as all-rounder Matthew Short is expected to miss the semi-final of the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025 due to a quad injury that he sustained in the game against Afghanistan on Friday in Lahore.
The Australia vs Afghanistan match in Lahore was washed out. As a result, Australia finished Group B with four points—a win over England and two washouts—and consequently qualified for the semi-finals.
The South Africa vs England fixture will decide the second team from this group to reach the semis and the final standings. The India vs New Zealand match on Sunday will decide the standings in Group A, and consequently the schedule of the semi-finals.
Matthew Short suffered this quad injury during Afghanistan’s innings. He did come out to open alongside Travis Head, but his movement was limited, and he aimed only for boundaries. Short scored 20 runs off 15 balls, cracking three fours and a six, before being dismissed by Azmatullah Omarzai. Only 12.5 overs were possible in Australia’s chase before rain arrived and didn’t relent, forcing the match to be called off without an outcome.
Matthew Short Ruled Out Of Champions Trophy Semis: Steve Smith
Australia captain Steve Smith hinted that Short is highly unlikely to be fit in time for their semi-final, which could be either on March 4 or March 5.
Smith said at the post-match presentation,
“I think he’ll be struggling. I think we saw tonight he wasn’t moving very well. I think it’s probably going to be too quick between games for him to recover.”
Young Jake Fraser-McGurk is an opening option on the bench for Australia, but the 22-year-old is not reliable at all and is highly inconsistent due to his instincts of taking an attacking approach. All-rounder Aaron Hardie is a good alternative Australia have in their squad to replace Short in the XI, but that would mean a shuffle in the batting order as Hardie is not an opener.
If Short is ruled out from the rest of the tournament, Australia could bring in left-handed batter and left-arm spinner Cooper Connolly in the squad, who could directly come in the XI as well, especially if Australia are to play India in the semi-final in Dubai, where the pitch is slow and assists spinners.
“We’ve got a few guys there to come in and we’ll be able to fill a job,” Smith added.
Short’s injury-forced absence makes him the sixth absentee for Australia. Earlier, Mitchell Marsh (back), Pat Cummins (ankle), Josh Hazlewood (hip), Mitchell Starc (ankle), and Marcus Stoinis (ODI retirement) were needed to be replaced from their provisional squad.
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