Jhye Richardson, the Australia fast bowler, has undergone further surgery to stabilise the shoulder he dislocated last year which led to him missing the World Cup and Ashes tour.
Richardson suffered the original injury in the second ODI against Pakistan in Sharjah last March when he dived in the outfield. It would end up keeping him sidelined for six months and he has played just once for Australia, in the one-day series against South Africa, since then.
Although he was able to bowl at good pace during the Australian season he was hampered in the outfield and the shoulder popped out again on occasions.
It is hoped Richardson will recover in time for when cricket could resume later this year following the Covid-19 pandemic.
"All the ligaments become loose when you do dislocate and then the surgery essentially involves tightening things up," CA's head of sports science, Alex Kountouris, told News Corp. "A lot of other players have had that in the past. We're hoping that will fix the problem.
"It's a lengthy surgery but it does give him an opportunity now that we're not going to play until…September, October, November or December…he's obviously a chance with that."
"It was nasty [the original injury]. He dived with a lot of force on his arm. It was something that was quite bad. It's probably not surprising he's had ongoing symptoms and not surprising in general for cricketers because they do need their shoulders to be fairly mobile."
Richardson has taken 24 wickets in 13 ODIs and six wickets in two Tests which were against Sri Lanka in early 2019.