Injured Paine to wait longer to succeed Haddin as No.1 Oz wicketkeeper

Sydney, Sep 27(ANI): Australian wicketkeeper Tim Paine will have to wait a while longer to succeed Brad Haddin as the country's No.1 wicketkeeper in one-day cricket after a recurring finger injury saw him ruled out of next month's South Africa tour. Australia's team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris says that Paine will undergo his second bout of surgery in 10 months this week to repair a fracture to his right index finger. He also reckons that Paine could miss even more of the summer as he requires an "extended recovery period". "Tim has been resting the injury in recent weeks, but is still experiencing considerable pain," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Kountouris, as saying. "His surgeon has advised that the fracture is healing slower than expected and may not heal without surgical intervention. As such, Tim will be undergoing surgery later this week." "He is likely to need an extended recovery period following surgery and will not be available for selection for the Twenty20 and ODI tour of South Africa," he added. (ANI)