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MELBOURNE - Andrew Symonds' World Cup cricket dreams are over unless Australia punt on carrying the injured allrounder for at least the first half of the tournament.
Symonds yesterday underwent surgery to have the bicep tendon in his right shoulder re-attached to the bone after he ruptured the muscle while batting during last Friday night's loss to England at the SCG.
Australia cannot say how long Symonds will be sidelined but given the nature of the injury and the long rehabilitation process he will require, the world champions are bracing to be without the Queenslander for the Caribbean tournament starting next month.
National selectors will discuss a possible replacement tomorrow but are understood to be resigned to the fact they cannot call on Symonds, 31, like they did in 2003, when he starred in the triumph in South Africa.
Symonds' injury was worse than first thought, as he ripped the bicep muscle from the bone, which required surgeons to use a screw to re-attach it to the shoulder joint.
Australian team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris was not optimistic when asked about Symonds' chances of playing in the World Cup, which starts in mid-March, given he faces a recovery time of possibly two months.
"It's going to be tough for the World Cup," Kountouris told Channel Nine.
"They tend to take a little bit of time to recover but we are not really looking at that right now. We just want to see how it goes over the next couple of weeks.
"There's no fixed time with any sort of surgery you do, you can't definitely say you are going to be right in four weeks, or five weeks or 10 weeks, so we are just going to look at it week by week.
"We're still aiming for him to be at the World Cup but we're still just looking at where he is going to be in the next one to two weeks."
Australia must lodge their 15-man World Cup squad with the International Cricket Council on February 13, which means the selectors can choose 14 fit players and hope to carry Symonds through to the business end of the tournament, or overlook him completely.
The only way Symonds could come into the squad if initially overlooked is as a replacement for an injured player, although that would pose a major gamble for the selection panel in a long tournament.
Shane Watson's likely inclusion in the squad would also deter selectors from gambling on another injured player, given Watson is still finding his way again after persistent hamstring troubles.
Australia's selectors will tomorrow discuss the squad they want for the tri-series finals, and are likely to discuss Symonds' potential replacements.
Batsman Brad Hodge now looks a strong chance to tour, while the prospects of legspinning allrounders Cameron White and Brad Hogg have also been boosted, along with those of Watson and possibly a bolter like West Australian Adam Voges, who makes quick runs and bowls part-time off-spin.
Symonds has played 161 one-day internationals.
- AAP
