Peter Siddle out for the season with back injury

Peter Siddle has been ruled out of Australia's tour of New Zealand in March with a stress fracture of the back. The injury is a major blow to Australia, who are already missing several fast men including Ben Hilfenhaus (knee), Brett Lee (elbow) and Stuart Clark (back) from the Test ranks.

Siddle battled back soreness during the one-day series against Pakistan and missed the match in Adelaide, but returned a few days later to play in Perth. However, the problem was revealed after the final ODI and he will be out of action for the rest of the Australian summer.

"Peter experienced back pain during the Commonwealth Bank Series," Australia's physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said. "The source of the pain was investigated after the fifth ODI and unfortunately scans revealed that he has a lower back stress fracture. The nature of this injury means that Peter will require a long rehabilitation period and as such he'll be unavailable for the remainder of the domestic summer and the tour of New Zealand."

There is a possibility Hilfenhaus will also miss the New Zealand tour, which would create a major test of Australia's fast-bowling depth with Mitchell Johnson and Doug Bollinger the only two frontline Test fast men currently fit. Clint McKay and Ryan Harris, who have starred in the one-day series against Pakistan, would be the likely contenders to join Bollinger and Johnson in the attack for the two-Test tour of New Zealand in late March.

Brett Geeves, who was a cover player for Siddle during the Perth Test, was also on Wednesday ruled out for the season with a stress fracture of the back. Siddle's ongoing injury problems are a concern for Australia - he has battled foot injuries over the past year and had several shoulder reconstructions before making his Australia debut.

"Lots of fast bowlers seem to get them [back stress fractures] at certain stages throughout their career, there's probably not many that don't," Siddle's Victoria and Australia team-mate Cameron White said. "They've been getting them for years.

"It's not a career-threatening injury or anything like that. Brett Lee has had stress fractures numerous times, I think, and other bowlers have come back from them really strongly. Pete is one of those guys who does everything right and I'm sure he'll get right and be back in no time."