Shane Watson has suffered from a knee injury again and may sit out of Australia’s first arm-up game against Sussex on Wednesday. This leaves the selectors scratching their heads as they decide who their all-rounder for the first test match at Cardiff will be. The first test match begins from 8th of July.
Watson admitted, “I pulled up a little bit stiff from training yesterday so I sat out today’s training. We are just monitoring things - that’s the way it has been with me for the last couple of years”
The all-rounder has had a history of injuries, and has yet to play a significant role in the Ashes. He was selected for the 2005-06 series, but could not play because of hamstring problems and his place was taken by Andrew Symonds.
In other news related to Ashes, the English team has kept Michael Vaughan and Steve Harmison out of their 16-man training squad, but the selectors have made it clear that players can be chosen from outside the 16.
Harmison had bowled the first ball of the Ashes on both the prior occasions, but with contrasting results. One had been a bouncer than almost took Justin Langer’s head, while the other had been a wide to the second slip.