In the midst of a rather lackluster initial week at the ongoing ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2023, Australia have received a ray of hope regarding the potential return of Travis Head to the tournament. The skilled left-handed opener was initially unable to join the squad in India due to a fracture in his left hand, an injury he sustained during the ODI series against South Africa last month.
Travis Head’s potential return: A ray of hope for Australia
Australia’s performance in the quadrennial event have been less than stellar, with losses to India in Chennai and a comprehensive defeat to South Africa in their second game in Lucknow. However, looking ahead to Australia’s upcoming fixture against Sri Lanka in their World Cup campaign, Head has made a comeback to the practice nets for the first time since his hand injury in South Africa. He is optimistic about rejoining the World Cup squad in India shortly.
“It’s coming along well, and probably better than we hoped,” Head was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo
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Head further acknowledged the tight deadline as he had been advised a six-week healing process after the fracture, despite choosing not to undergo surgery. Everything will need to go perfectly for him to be declared match-fit by the game against Netherlands on October 25.
“When we decided not to go with surgery, which would have meant a 10-week recovery, we were told it would be a minimum of six weeks with the splint before we could look at playing again. Going by that plan, the Netherlands game will be just under six weeks from impact which is a pretty aggressive date so everything would have to go perfectly from here to make that deadline,” the 29-year-old added.
Head’s optimism
Head mentioned that he wasn’t certain if he’d be able to wield a bat soon, but since the splint was removed, he has managed to play a few shots and is eager to regain his match fitness.
“I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to bat when the splint came off but, apart from a fair bit of stiffness given I hadn’t been able to use it for the past four weeks, I was able to hit balls and play a fair range of shots,” the Adelaide-born cricketer added.
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