Will Sutherland added to Australia A squad for second red-ball match against India A in Lucknow
Australia A have suffered another blow ahead of their multi-format tour of India with allrounder Aaron Hardie sidelined with a shoulder injury.
With fellow West Australian Lance Morris and Queenslander Callum Vidler already withdrawn from the four- and one-day series respectively with back injuries, Hardie becomes the latest to be ruled out after injuring his left shoulder at state training last Friday.
Victorian allrounder Will Sutherland, who was already part of the Australia A squad for three 50-over matches that follow in Kanpur, has been called up for the second red-ball match in Lucknow beginning on September 23.
Hardie is expected to be sidelined for around a month with the 26-year-old targeting a return for WA during the early phase of the Sheffield Shield season, which kicks off on October 4.
“Hardie will complete targeted rehabilitation in Perth over the coming weeks with potential for return play early in the Sheffield Shield season,” Cricket Australia said in a statement this morning.
Hardie has been a regular member of Australia’s senior white-ball squads over the past two years with 15 ODI and 16 T20 international caps. He hit scores of 23 and 28 not out to go with three wickets in his two appearances during the T20 side’s 5-0 sweep of West Indies in July and played two ODIs and a T20 against South Africa last month.
The right-hander missed a block of cricket last summer with a niggling quad injury before returning to help bowl Australia A to an innings victory over England Lions in February with three second innings wickets.
He was also part of Australia’s Champions Trophy squad later that month but didn’t play in the tournament.
Sutherland meanwhile comes into the ‘A’ series following a productive northern summer for Yorkshire in the T20 Blast where he hit 208 runs with a top score of 58 and took 10 wickets in his 12 games.
The 25-year-old also played two first-class matches during his county stint, taking three wickets against Sussex before returning to Australia to lead the Renegades in the Top End T20 tournament in Darwin.
It was Sutherland’s first foray into county cricket after being forced to withdraw twice in the past three years to rehab back injuries that flared at the end of the Australian summer.
“It’s the first time I’ve gone (over to the UK), so third time lucky,” Sutherland said last month in Darwin.
“I just feel (like I’ve got) a lot of continuity there coming back having played cricket already and I can hit the ground running and to get a bit of UK experience – there’s Ashes coming up (in 2027) so it’s nice to be playing in different conditions.
“The back and body is good; I bowled a fair bit over in the UK and hopefully I can keep flying leading into the season.”
South Australian quick Henry Thornton replaced Morris and Vidler in the four- and one-day squads respectively with Aussie selectors to add another player as cover for Hardie for the 50-over leg at a later date.
Australia A tour of India
India A four-day squad: Shreyas Iyer (c), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Narayan Jagadeesan (wk), Sai Sudharsan, Dhruv Jurel (vice-captain, wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Harsh Dubey, Ayush Badoni, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Tanush Kotian, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Khaleel Ahmed, Manav Suthar, Yash Thakur. Second match only: KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj
Australia A four-day squad: Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Jack Edwards, Aaron Hardie, Campbell Kellaway, Sam Konstas, Nathan McSweeney, Todd Murphy, Fergus O’Neill, Oliver Peake, Josh Philippe, Corey Rocchiccioli, Liam Scott, Henry Thornton. Second match only: Will Sutherland
September 16-19: First four-day match, Ekana Stadium, Lucknow, 3pm AEST
September 23-26: Second four-day match, Ekana Stadium, Lucknow, 3pm AEST
Australia A one-day squad: Cooper Connolly, Harry Dixon, Jack Edwards, Sam Elliott, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Mackenzie Harvey, Todd Murphy, Tanveer Sangha, Liam Scott, Lachie Shaw, Tom Straker, Will Sutherland, Henry Thornton
September 30: First one-day match, Green Park, Kanpur, 3pm AEST
October 3: Second one-day match, Green Park, Kanpur, 3pm AEST
October 5: Third one-day match, Green Park, Kanpur, 4pm AEDT
