Cooper Connolly has been approved as a replacement for opener Matt Short, who was injured in the group B match against Afghanistan
Connolly to replace injured Short for Champions Trophy knockouts
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Australia have called in spin-bowling allrounder Cooper Connolly to their Champions Trophy squad to replace Matthew Short, who was ruled out with a quad injury.
The 21-year-old Connolly, who made his ODI debut in England last year, was initially named as a travelling reserve for the tournament. The ICC's Event Technical Committee approved his inclusion in the Australian squad early on Monday.
Short, who made a vital contribution of 63 off 66 in Australia's win over England, appeared uncomfortable during his knock of 20 off 15 in the washed-out game against Afghanistan on Friday after sustaining an injury while fielding.
Captain Steve Smith had all but confirmed his side's need to find a new opener for the remainder of the tournament after the final group game.
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"I think we saw tonight he wasn't moving very well. I think it's probably going to be too quick between games for him to recover,” Smith had told Prime Video.
While Australia have another spare opener in Jake Fraser-McGurk, he would leave them short of a bowling option. Short sent down seven economical overs of spin against Afghanistan, giving away just 21 runs.
This could tempt the side to bring in Connolly, whose left-arm spin could be an important asset to have in Dubai, where they are set to face India in the semi-final on Tuesday.
But the ability of Travis Head to send down part-time off-spin, as well as Marnus Labuschagne's handy leg-spin – he took two late wickets against England – mean Australia are reasonably well covered for spin options behind frontliners Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell.
Aaron Hardie is another replacement option for Short. The seam-bowling allrounder has batted in the top-order before but his inclusion would more likely force a batting order reshuffle.
2025 ICC Men's Champions Trophy
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Australia's Group B fixtures
February 22: beat England by five wickets (15 balls remaining)
February 25: match abandoned v South Africa
February 28: no result v Afghanistan
March 4: Semi-final 1, India v Australia, Dubai (8pm AEDT)
March 5: Semi-final 2, South Africa v New Zealand, Lahore (8pm AEDT)
March 9: Final, Lahore or Dubai (8pm AEDT)
Australia squad: Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Spencer Johnson, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Adam Zampa, Cooper Connolly.