Ashes 2017-18: Steve O’Keefe Sidelined for Six Weeks with Broken Finger
Oct 16, 2017 at 2:00 PM
With the Ashes 2017-18 six weeks away, the Australian national set-up has to face a severe blow, in the form of left-arm orthodox spinner Steve O’Keefe, who has broken finger on his right hand while playing for Manly Cricket Club (MCC) against North Sydney on Saturday (October 14).
The multiple injuries have plagued the injury-hit Australian side — to the spin bowlers which already included left-arm spinner Ashton Agar in the list.
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Playing domestic cricket for New South Wales Blues, the Malaysia-born O’Keefe was sidelined for five-to-six weeks owing to the finger injury during grade cricket.
Before the start of the Ashes campaign, the Australian spin stock is facing the challenging task, as 29-year-old senior off-spinner Nathan Lyon struggled with his shoulder during the JLT One-day Cup fixture against Queensland.
However, New South Wales-based Lyon was rested for the all-important game against Victoria following the precautionary measures which further saw the match was abandoned due to the ‘dangerous pitch’ for playing conditions.
The growing list of injured players have had become a huge concern for the Cricket Australia (CA) before they are supposed to announce the eagerly-awaited squad for the traditional home series.
With premium Australian first-class round of Sheffield Shield competition bound to kick off on October 26 between Queensland and Victoria at Gabba in Brisbane, O’Keefe would miss out on the first three rounds of the premiere four-day tournament if he would recuperate in time.
Interestingly, the Ashes will be beginning from November 23, as England has already named its squad before flying to Australia.
The 24-year-old Agar has undergone surgery after breaking his finger during the recently-concluded limited-overs series against India.
On the other side, the 30-year-old Victoria-based left-arm spinner Jonathan Holland, who represented Australia in two Tests against Sri Lanka in 2016, also underwent knee surgery before being ruled out.
Moreover, the defending champions Blues decided to take the field in the ongoing 50-over competition without the quality wrist spinner, as O’Keefe was found guilty in April this year after he was charged for the hefty amount of US$20,000 for an alcohol-related incident which further forced him out of the Matador Cup 2017.
O’Keefe breached the level-two Code of Conduct, as the incident took place soon after the ceremony of Steve Waugh Medal.
Across formats, O’Keefe bagged 41 wickets and went on to play in the recent fixture against Bangladesh in Chittagong Test in September this year after replacing injured Josh Hazlewood.
O’Keefe made his international debut against Pakistan at Birmingham in July 2010, as he went on to play in nine Tests and seven Twenty20 Internationals.