Melbourne, Mar 6 : Australia captain Ricky Ponting has said that pacers Peter Siddle and Dirk Nannes, as well as veteran Mike Hussey, were in the frame to join the World cup squad in place of injured Doug Bollinger.
Bollinger was sent home a week ago with an injured ankle.
Speaking after Australia’s clash with Sri Lanka was abandoned, Ponting said: “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.”
“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,” he said.
“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. Whoever we bring I think will add a lot to our squad. Mike Hussey was someone who we always were going to miss.
“Having a left-hander in the middle order with so much experience he has 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,” Fox Sports quoted Ponting, as saying.
“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.
Australia''s remaining World Cup matches are against minnows Kenya and Canada on March 13 and 16 in Bangalore before playing Pakistan in Colombo three days later.
© ANI
