Steve Smith ruled out of South Africa tour due to wrist injury; Turner named as replacement
Australia suffered a significant blow ahead of the South Africa tour as star batter Steve Smith was ruled out of the entire tour slated to begin on August 30. Ashton Turner has been called in as Smithy’s replacement. Smith has been facing issues with his wrist since the recently concluded Ashes series in England and has been wearing a splint to aid the same.
Although Smith will be available in time for the World Cup in October. Talking about Ashton Turner, the batter has been in good form in the BBL and has been leading the Perth Scorchers well. He was also one of the frontrunners for captaining Australia in T20 after Aaron Finch’s retirement from international cricket last year but the fact that Turner hasn’t played for Australia since the tour of Bangladesh in 2021, he was not considered for the role.
Steve Smith ruled out of T20I series against SA
“The compacted Ashes series and the World Test Championship was a heavy load for the group, and we are taking a conservative approach to the build-up to the World Cup,” chair of selectors George Bailey said.
“With the World Cup the priority of the squad, it was determined on advice that it was best for Steve and Mitchell to join the group in India by which time we expect them to be fully fit and available for the Indian ODI series, plus the World Cup warm-up fixture.”
New Appointment
Another important development is the appointment of Mitchell Marsh as the captain for the ODI series against South Africa with regular captain Pat Cummins not assured of being available to play in the series as he is also nursing a wrist injury although he will be a part of the Australian squad for the ODI games.
Australia has selected a weaker side for the T20 series as the majority of the regular players are resting to manage their workload before the ODI World Cup in India in October. It is also being reported that the appointment of Mitchell Marsh as the T20 captain is only for the series against South Africa and the selectors will appoint a full-time T20 captain after the World Cup
