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Australia to find out Harris fitness

Ed Jackson 14/09/2011 05:53:38 AM Comments (0)

Australia will discover later on Wednesday if paceman Ryan Harris will be fit to play in the third and final Test against Sri Lanka starting on Friday in Colombo.

The 31-year-old quick underwent scans on his stiff right hamstring on Tuesday with the results to determine whether the injury-plagued right-armer is available for the final Test which Australia go into holding a 1-0 lead in the series.

If Harris is ruled out Peter Siddle looks the most likely replacement although youngster James Pattinson is also available or captain Michael Clarke could select Michael Beer and go into the match with two spinners.

The pitch at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground will go some way to deciding the make-up of Australia's team and Clarke will have his first look at the ground on Wednesday when the team hold a training session at the venue.

Opener Shane Watson said the team must get over the disappointment of the rain-hit draw in Kandy and focus on securing the series in Colombo.

"I am very confident, the disappointing thing is to play as well as we have throughout this Test match and not get a result," Watson said.

"The most important thing is to recover as well as we can, we need to go into the third Test as fresh as we possibly can.

"It is going to be so important to make sure we are ready to go for that last Test and play well again."

Australia will be boosted by the return of former captain Ricky Ponting to the team in Colombo, after he missed the second Test to return to Australia for the birth of his second child.

His return creates a welcome selection headache for Clarke, who must decide whether Shaun Marsh retains his spot in the team following his 141 on debut in Kandy ahead of either Phillip Hughes or Usman Khawaja.

The most likely scenario is Khawaja will miss out and Marsh will drop down to No.6 for the final Test although there is a possibility Clarke will ask Ponting to bat down the order and retain the West Australian in the No.3 role.

Brought to you by AAP AAP © 2024 AAP

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