Australia’s Mitchell Johnson out of World Twenty20 due to injury
Melbourne: Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson was on Sunday ruled out of the ICC World Twenty20 due to an infected toe and has been replaced by Doug Bollinger in the squad.
Johnson suffered a cut on his right big toe after the 3rd Test against South Africa which became infected when he returned home to Australia after the series.
"We have given Mitchell as long as we can but unfortunately his infection hasn't responded to the treatment as quickly as we had hoped with swelling remaining in his toe and foot," CA Chief Medical Officer, Dr Justin Paoloni said.
"It is difficult to say how quickly the infection will take to resolve and due to the high risk of infection recurrence with a return to bowling we feel it is in the best interests of Mitchell's health for him to continue to receive intensive treatment in Perth," he said.
Johnson’s absence would be a massive blow to the Australian team.
"Unfortunately Mitchell Johnson has been ruled out of the ICC World Twenty20. This is disappointing news as it was anticipated that Mitch would have a significant impact with his pace and menace," national selector John Inverarity said.
"Doug Bollinger has been called into the squad to replace Mitchell. Doug has had significant experience in the sub-continent and in international white ball cricket and his ability to bowl with good pace was a factor in his selection," he said. Bollinger has not played for Australia since October 2011, but he was part of the Test squad during the latter part of the home Ashes series.
