Bird likely to be replaced by Sayers
Should paceman Jackson Bird not be passed fit ahead of the tour to South Africa it is likely that he will be replaced by Chadd Sayers.
Australia coach Darren Lehmann described Sayer’s as the ‘logical choice’ to replace Bird who injured his hamstring during Tasmania’s Sheffield Shield clash with Queensland at the Gabba.
Bird will not tour if he is unlikely to be fit for the first warmup game of the tour which gets underway on February 22nd at Willowmoore Park in Benoni.
Sayers has been the leading wicket-taker in Sheffield Shield cricket for the last 18 months and has been called into the Test squad multiple times but has never been handed a Test debut.
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Lehmann told Cricket.com.au: “Jackson’s being assessed by the medical staff today so we’ll make a call on that in the next 24 hours and see how he goes.
“We’ll replace him if required. The logical (replacement) is probably Chadd Sayers, but we’ll sit as a selection panel and work that out.
“We’d like a fully fit squad to go into a tough tour. So if he is to tour, we want him playing the tour game.”
Sayers lashed out at the selectors after he was left out of the squad for the tour, something he found out about through social media.
The first Test against South Africa gets underway on March 1 at Kingsmead in Durban.
South Africa v Australia Test series fixtures:
First Test Kingsmead, Durban, March 1-5
Second Test St George’s Park, Port Elizabeth, March 9-13
Third Test Newlands, Cape Town, March 22-26
Fourth Test Wanderers, Johannesburg, March 30-April 3
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