Shoulder surgery likely to rule Will Young out for rest of the year

New Zealand batsman Will Young has made the tough decision to put shoulder surgery ahead of being a World Cup reserve and could be out of action for the rest of the year.

Young is currently uncapped at international level but was due to make his Test debut in place of the injured Kane Williamson in the final Test against Bangladesh in Christchurch before the match was called off due to the terror attack in the city.

He was handed a central contract last week to put him in the leading 20 players in the country and is currently part of the squad playing the Australians in Brisbane.

However, at a training camp in Lincoln last month he damaged his right shoulder and while he is able to battle through the pain to bat - he made an impressive 60 in the opening match against the Australians - he is restricted in the field. So he has taken the decision to sort out the problem now rather than risk further damage.

"My throwing shoulder isn't really where it needs to be, I've been in quite a lot of pain throwing," he told Radio Sport. I had an MRI scan the day before I flew out to Australia and the results weren't good - I've done some damage in there that requires surgery. I've had a chat to [coach Gary Stead] and the physios and the doctors and we've come to the conclusion that surgery will be required on my shoulder.

"So, after these games in Australia, I'm going to be returning home to get that surgery done as soon as possible and to start the lengthy rehab process - which is something I'm not looking forward to and is hugely gutting, just after it was announced that I was getting a contract."

The recovery period is six to nine months, meaning he will miss the chance of being part of the tour to Sri Lanka later in the year and probably the home series against England followed by the Test tour of Australia.

"There's a huge amount of 'ifs' going all the way to England as batting cover - you might get added to the squad if something bad happens to one of the top batsmen, but you're not even guaranteed there to get a game, so there were too many 'ifs' to play through the pain and go down that route.

"It means I'm not going over to play some club cricket in England, and perhaps be batting cover over there, but I need to be able to throw and hopefully I've got a few more years left in me yet. So I'll get that throwing shoulder sorted and then hit the ground running by next New Zealand summer. I think the right decision was made to get back home, and get it sorted out as soon as possible."