Injured Australian captain Michael Clarke has been ruled out of the one-day international series for the upcoming West Indies tour.
Clarke will remain in Australia getting treatment on his strained left hamstring while Shane Watson leads the national ODI squad which departs for the Windies on Friday.
Clarke is expected to join the tour later, leading Australia in the three-Test series starting on April 7.
Clarke strained his hamstring while scoring a century in Australia’s tri-series second final loss to Sri Lanka in Adelaide on Tuesday.
Scans on Wednesday revealed the extent of the injury to Clarke, who only returned to playing last Sunday after almost three weeks on the sidelines with a right hamstring strain.
Cricket Australia physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said Clarke would not travel to the West Indies for the five-match one-day series starting March 16 which is followed by two Twenty20 games on March 27 and March 30.
“He will take part in an intensive rehabilitation program in Sydney,” Kountouris said in a statement.
“And we expect that he will recover in time to take part in the Test portion of the West Indies tour.”
Paceman James Pattinson, who strained a left buttock muscle during Tuesday’s one-dayer against the Lankans, has been cleared to travel to the West Indies.
“He will have treatment in the West Indies over the next week in an attempt to be fit for the ODI series,” Kountouris said.