Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne will not undergo surgery for his injured left hand but only has a 50 per cent chance of playing in the home Test series against Sri Lanka next month.
Cricket Australia (CA) medical officer Dr Trefor James said Warne had consulted a specialist in England, where the spinner sustained the injury while batting for county team Hampshire, and he was told that he could do without a surgery.
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"In consultation with the medicos at Hampshire, we will be doing everything possible to speed his recovery, but at this stage it appears as if he is a 50-50 prospect of being available for the Test matches in Darwin and Cairns," he added.
Warne, who broke the metacarpal bone in his hand while batting in the match against Essex on Friday, will have his recovery monitored by Cricket Australia's medical staff.
The series against Sri Lanka, beginning on July 1, will be played in Darwin and Cairns. The Sri Lankan squad is scheduled to arrive in Darwin on June 20.
Chairman of the national selection panel Trevor Hohns said, "as selectors all we can do is be guided by the advice of our medical staff. Shane will be doing everything he can to get himself right and we will give him as much time to do that as possible, but if he isn't 100 per cent fit then he won't be selected."
Hohns, however, said a replacement for Warne had not been decided as yet.
"At this stage though, no player has been placed on standby or nominated as a possible replacement for Shane. We just want to see how the injury progresses over the next few weeks before looking at that scenario," he said.
If Warne misses the series against Sri Lanka, it will be a major blow to his hopes of overtaking Muttiah Muralitharan as the world's highest wicket-taker.
Warne has 517 Test wickets, two behind retired West Indies paceman Courtney Walsh, but 10 behind Muralitharan, who reached 527 wickets during his country's recent whitewash of Zimbabwe.
