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(Sports) Faulkner in doubt for Australia's World Cup campaign due to injury

Xinhua, February 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

Australian all-rounder James Faulkner could miss the 2015 ICC World Cup after suffering a side strain in his country's tri-series final victory over England on Sunday.

Faulkner, who is one of Australia's key ODI players, had earlier made an unbeaten 50 from just 24 balls with the bat, proving his immense importance to the side.

However, he was later forced from the field midway through his third over with the injury and was consoled by teammates at the end of the match.

Now, he faces a race against time to be fit for Australia's World Cup campaign, which begins in just 12 days when the team plays England in Melbourne.

Faulkner will be sent for scans later in the week to determine the extent of the injury, but teammate Glenn Maxwell is hopeful that he will be able to make a recovery in time for the World Cup.

"He's pretty down at the moment," Maxwell said on Monday, quoted by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"I think obviously with such an amazing thing coming up for us, the home World Cup, just the thought of any of us being ruled out so late with an injury would hurt a lot of people.

"He's a super cricketer and a vital cog in this Australian outfit. I think he's the best finisher in the game comfortably.

"We can just hope it's nothing and he is being soft and he gets back and trains hard with us next week."

Test batsman Shaun Marsh and inexperienced all-rounder Moises Henriques are the likely candidates to potentially act as a replacement for Faulkner if required.

However, in some good news on the injury front for the Australian cricket team, captain Michael Clarke is ahead of schedule on his return from a hamstring problem.

Clarke made 51 on his return to club grade cricket over the weekend and will return to the field for an invitational game against Bangladesh on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Shane Watson has also sufficiently recovered from a hamstring problem and will be fit for the team's two World Cup lead-up matches against India and the United Arab Emirates. Endi