Australian all-rounder James Faulkner set to prove himself fit for Perth

Australian all-rounder James Faulkner set to prove himself fit for Perth: Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins sustained a minor injury during their match against New Zealand and is not in a position to be a part of the Australian team which will take on Afghanistan in their next league match. At the same time the Aussies camp has better news with all-rounder James Faulkner getting close to a return for the World Cup co-hosts after having successfully recovered from a side strain.

Injury-prone Cummins reported a “slight side strain” and is in doubt for Wednesday’s Cricket World Cup clash against Afghanistan in Perth but scans revealed “nothing serious”, a team spokeswoman told reporters in Perth on Monday.

Faulkner, meanwhile, needs only to recover well from Monday’s training session to be included in Australia’s XI for the World Cup game with Afghanistan in Perth. The 24-year-old suffered a side strain in the one-day tri-series final against England playing at Perth in early February and has missed both of Australia’s matches so far.

On his fitness status and availability for the next match Faulkner said, “I am going to have a bowl today, half a dozen over’s in the nets and hopefully I am available for selection, and hopefully I get picked, “If I get through today I will be available for selection.

“Last week I bowled a couple of over’s pretty much pretty close.The difference is in the intensity of an ODI.I will look to have a solid day today and hopefully recover well and be ready on Wednesday afternoon.”

“I have been batting since five-six days after the injury to be brutally honest and although they told me to ease back on in the first two weeks I was pretty much going 100% in the nets which is a good thing. I think I was lucky being a left-hand bowler and a right hand batsman, it was not the same side.”

Australia need a victory over the Afghans to kick start their campaign after their second match against Bangladesh was washed out and their batting line-up was blown away for 151 runs in 32.2 over’s by the New Zealand at Eden Park.

“Hopefully it does not have much of an impact at all. Three or four weeks, you look at it different ways. It has given me some time to freshen up and get my body feeling good again and hopefully it holds me in good shape come the back end of the tournament.

“I’d be lying if I said I was not frustrated at the start. Any time you get injured is a shocking feeling and to do it at the time it happened, the same like last time before the World T20, was obviously quite hard to take at the start. I could not do much about that except continuing my rehab and I have been in good hands with the physios and team doctors to get me back in this position.”

Faulkner further added that, “When I have had an injury, my knee and my side, they have not been little niggles that are one or two-weekers. Having said that, I have not been injured that much in my career, and you have to always try and look at the positives all the time, as hard as it is to swallow. The positive is that I am back sooner rather than later.”