Warne to miss ICC Knock-out

Shane Warne is to undergo surgery on his left knee next week and will miss the ICC Knock-out tournament in Kenya, it was announced today.

His replacement in the squad will be announced in due course.

The surgery Shane will have is expected to be a routine cleaning up of the surface of the knee joint, and it should relieve discomfort he has been experiencing intermittently over the past year.

It is hoped he will be able to return to competitive action in plenty of time for the first Ansett Australia Test match against the West Indies at The Gabba starting on Thursday 23 November.

Shane Warne said: "At this point in time the problem is not a major one and it hasn't affected my bowling.

"However, it is something I have noticed at stages over the past year and with a busy period of cricket coming up, including tours of India and the UK following the domestic season, I want to ensure I'm part of that as it should be an exciting time for the team.

"The surgery is expected to be routine, so after chatting with both medical experts and Chairman of Selectors Trevor Hohns it's been decided to have it done now rather than later and I'm confident I'll be fine well in advance of the Test series."

The squad heads to Dubai where it will meet up with the three players - Glenn McGrath, Ian Harvey and Michael Bevan - who have been playing county cricket in the UK this winter.

Australia plays its first match of the Knock-out on 7 October against the winners of the preliminary round match between India and Kenya. If it wins, Australia will play a semi-final on 13 October, with the final taking place on 15 October.

The tournament involves all the Full Member (Test-playing) countries of the ICC plus the host country Kenya and is to raise funds for development of the game on a world-wide basis.

The tournament was previously staged in Bangladesh in 1998 and was won by South Africa.