Abbott hobbled by unlucky ankle blow

Sean Abbott skippered the National Performance Squad to two wins from as many matches, but will miss the remainder of the winter quadrangular 'A' series after having his ankle broken.

The unfortunate injury happened after Abbott delivered the final ball in the NPS victory against Australia A on Tuesday, when a firmly struck drive from Cameron Bancroft crashed into Abbott's left ankle as he completed his follow-through.

Australia A were left 12 runs short of their revised target in a rain-affected match and Abbott's injury took a little gloss off the win for the squad of youngsters against their more highly-fancied opponents.

Abbott was left rolling on the pitch in pain after the firmly-hit strike from Bancroft smashed into the inside of Abbott's ankle, above the boot, leaving the bowler rolling on the pitch as the match ended.

It was the second straight win for the NPS, having also despatched South Africa A by 17 runs in the quadrangular series opener.

Scans revealed the blow had caused a fracture, forcing him to miss the remainder of the tournament.

Bupa Support Team Physiotherapist Stephen Timms said: "Sean was struck during Tuesday's match and suffered some damage to the ankle bone.

"Sean will undergo further scans in Sydney to assess the full extent of the damage and treatment required."

It's an unfortunate blow for the NPS to lose not only their skipper but their most experienced player. Abbott had the most first-class experience in the side the 24-year-old fast-bowling allrounder has been capped at one-day and Twenty20 international level with Australia. 

He showed his ability - and power - with a sparkly 44 from 28 balls against Australia A, and added 2-32 in six overs. 

Victoria's 20-year-old off-spinning allrounder Matthew Short will replace Abbott as skipper for the remainder of the series.

Short has previously represented Australia at the U19 World Cup and spent the past two seasons with the Melbourne Renegades in the KFC Big Bash League, featuring in two matches in BBL|04.

Short was part of the Australia U19 side that defeated England in a Western Australia-based series in April 2015.

He made his first-class debut for the CA XI and played two matches against touring international teams last summer. He has been playing with the National Performance Squad since the winter of 2014.

The NPS play their next match against India A in Townsville on Sunday, before a rematch showdown with Australia A in Mackay next Wednesday.

Every match of the Australia A winter series will be live streamed on cricket.com.au and the Cricket Australia Live App.

Full winter series details

Australia A: Chris Lynn (c), Peter Handscomb (vc), Cameron Bancroft, Cameron Boyce, Glenn Maxwell, Joe Mennie, Kurtis Patterson, Kane Richardson, Alex Ross, Marcus Stoinis, Chris Tremain, Sam Whiteman, Dan Worrall.

National Performance Squad: Matthew Short (c, Vic), Hilton Cartwright (WA), Kyle Gardiner (WA), David Grant (SA), Sam Grimwade (Vic), Sam Harper (Vic), Sam Heazlett (Qld), Clint Hinchliffe (WA), Josh Inglis (WA), Caleb Jewell (Tas), David Moody (WA), Arjun Nair (NSW), Tom O'Donnell (Vic), Matthew Renshaw (Qld), Mitchell Swepson (Qld).

South Africa A: Wayne Parnell (c), Qaasim Adams, Marchant de Lange, Reeza Hendricks, Heino Kuhn, Eddie Leie, Sisanda Magala, Aaron Phangiso, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Rilee Rossouw, Malusi Siboto, Khaya Zondo, David Miller, Dane Vilas 

India A: Naman Ojha (capt), Faiz Fazal, Akhil Herwadkar, Shreyas Iyer, Karun Nair, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Vijay Shankar, Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Varun Aaron, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaydev Unadkat, Barinder Sran, Shahbaz Nadeem, Sanju Samson.

Results

13 Aug, South Africa A 226 lost to NPS 8-243 by 17 runs
14 Aug, Australia A 2-56 def India A 55 by 8 wickets
16 Aug, Australia A 7-177 lost to NPS 9-231 by 12 runs (D/L Method)
17 Aug, South Africa A 8-230 lost to India A 7-234 by 3 wickets

Fixtures

20 August, Australia A v South Africa A, Tony Ireland Stadium, Townsville
21 August, India A v NPS, Tony Ireland Stadium, Townsville
24 August, NPS v Australia A, Harrup Park, Mackay
25 August, South Africa A v India A, Harrup Park, Mackay
27 August, NPS v India A, Harrup Park, Mackay
28 August, Australia A v South Africa A, Harrup Park, Mackay
30 August, Australia A v India A, Harrup Park, Mackay
31 August, South Africa A v NPS, Harrup Park, Mackay
3 September; Final 3 v 4, Harrup Park, Mackay
4 September, Final 1 v 2, Harrup Park, Mackay

Four-day matches

8-11 September, Australia A v India A, Allan Border Field, Brisbane
15-18 September, Australia A v India A, Allan Border Field, Brisbane