Australia are set to tour the UK next month for a total of eleven matches across both white-ball formats, against Scotland and England. The squads for the tour were announced a month ago, with some notable exceptions and a few new faces included.
Australia included left-arm fast bowler Spencer Johnson, who broke into the national team setup over the past year, in their T20I squad. However, Johnson has suffered a side strain injury while in action for the Oval Invincibles in The Hundred, and has been ruled out of the tour according to a report from Cricinfo.
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Johnson’s last match in the competition came on August 11 against the London Spirit, as he bowled just five balls in the first innings. He has had a lean 2024 season for the Invincibles, with just two wickets in six matches. He has also taken nine wickets in eight T20 Blast matches for Surrey.
Johnson has represented Australia six times, all in white-ball cricket with five of those being T20Is. He has been a regular in the franchise circuit, playing for Gujarat Titans in the IPL and LA Knight Riders in Major League Cricket apart from the Hundred.
Since the start of 2023, very few cricketers have played more T20 cricket than Rashid Khan - despite him missing six months through injury!
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) August 14, 2024
After another busy stretch, he's injured again. Is the toil of the franchise circuit catching up with him?
READ: https://t.co/BuuFztpskr pic.twitter.com/7rDD9KSY1U
Sean Abbott named as Johnson's replacement
Australia replaced Johnson with pace-bowling all-rounder Sean Abbott, who had originally been named only in the ODI squad. Abbott has played 21 ODIs and 15 T20Is for Australia, picking up a total of 43 international wickets.
Abbott has also been in action during this season of The Hundred, for Birmingham Phoenix. He is the tournament's joint-fifth highest wicket-taker with nine in seven matches.
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Like Johnson, Abbott is playing for Surrey in England's T20 Blast, which is taking place on either side of the Hundred, where he has taken 15 wickets in eight matches so far. He may take part in Surrey's quarter-final against Durham on September 3. His participation there is still not confirmed, as the first match of Australia's UK tour is scheduled for September 11.
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