Warne 50-50 for Sri Lanka series

Shane Warne will not require surgery on his broken hand and has a chance of recovering in time for the series against Sri Lanka. Cricket Australia (CA) medical staff will monitor his fitness, and advise the selectors accordingly.

"Shane consulted with a hand specialist in England overnight and the pleasing news is that he won't require surgery," said Dr Trefor James, CA's medical officer. Warne suffered the injury to his left hand in Hampshire's recent match against Essex, when he misjudged a rising ball from Darren Gough. He was rushed to a local hospital for x-rays, which revealed that his metacarpal bone was broken.

"In consultation with the medicos at Hampshire, we will be doing everything possible to speed his recovery, but at this stage it appears as if he is a 50-50 prospect of being available for the Test matches in Darwin and Cairns," James said. "We will keep a close eye on his recovery over the next couple of weeks and pass on our findings to the selectors."

Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors, said that his selection panel would listen to the medical advice before deciding on the team composition, and, as of now, no replacement had been put on standby to replace Warne.

"As selectors all we can do is be guided by the advice of our medical staff," Hohns said. "Shane will be doing everything he can to get himself right and we will give him as much time to do that as possible, but if he isn't 100% fit then he won't be selected.

"At this stage, though, no player has been placed on standby or nominated as a possible replacement for Shane. We just want to see how the injury progresses over the next few weeks before looking at that scenario."

If Warne is deemed unfit to play, his likely replacement will be Stuart MacGill, who was not selected for the upcoming series. The selectors had attributed his exclusion to the fact that the pitches at Darwin and Cairns suited faster bowlers, and they didn't see a place for two spinners in the side.