Siddle or Hastings to replace injured Bollinger in Oz World Cup squad

SYDNEY - Australian fast bowlers Peter Siddle and John Hastings have emerged as frontline options to replace injured fast bowler Doug Bollinger in the World Cup team.

Bollinger will return home after sustaining the injury in the defending champion’ seven-wicket win over New Zealand.

The selectors could consider batsman Michael Hussey, who was initially ruled out through injury, but captain Ricky Ponting said that they would almost certainly opt for another bowler.

“I’ll have a talk to the selectors about who the likely replacement’s going to be, and we need to get moving pretty quickly for that person so they can get over here, join us in Colombo and start getting acclimatized in case we need to play them in the next game,” Fox Sports quoted Ponting, as saying.

“We’ve got a few things to talk about and think about. We’ve got John Hastings in the sheds waiting for an opportunity. He’ll be well suited to these conditions.”

“We have a lot of fast bowlers around the country who are on the sidelines so we’ll have a good chat, but I’d be surprised if it wasn’t a bowler,” he added.

Earlier, Hussey had said that he would be considered for the six-week tournament if a member of 15-man squad was forced to withdraw.

The 35-year-old was dumped from the final squad after being considered too big a risk following his surgery on a hamstring tendon last month.

He had sustained the injury during Australia’s ODI series against England. (ANI)