Mitchell Marsh Likely To Miss Rest Of Season

Mitchell Marsh Likely To Miss Rest Of Season

Mitchel Marsh (right) may not play again this summer having suffered a serious back injury

©REUTERS / Action Images

Cricket Australia (CA) have confirmed that 20-year-old all-rounder Mitchell Marsh has suffered a lower-back bone stress injury and is unlikely to play again this season.

An initial scan in Sydney revealed the stress injury and he will undergo further scans in Melbourne.

The injury comes as a bitter blow for the Western Australian, who was called into Australia's One-Day International squad for the double-header with Sri Lanka and India.

The National Selection Panel (NSP) will now need to decide on a replacement, should they deem one necessary, for Marsh in the squad before the match against India on Sunday 19th February.

"Mitch complained of quite significant lower-back pain during yesterday’s training session at the SCG," CA physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said.

"After assessing him and considering his age we organised scans in Sydney last night that have confirmed our suspicions of a lower-back bone stress injury.

"He will have further scans tomorrow in Melbourne to determine the extent of the injury, which will help outline the period of rest required from cricket. We expect that he will not play as a bowler for the remainder of this season but will be in a position to provide further information once we have the results of tomorrow’s scans."

Marsh has to date played a single One-Day International and three Twenty20 Internationals for his country.

© Cricket World 2012