Kasprowicz sidelined with back injury

A back injury to fast bowler Michael Kasprowicz, the Australian fast bowler, has jeopardised his chances of making the Australian squad for the Ashes next month. Kasprowicz picked up the injury last week while jogging and consulted a specialist on Wednesday for scans.

Kasprowicz said that the condition felt similar to the one he suffered earlier this year in South Africa, which forced him out of the subsequent tour to Bangladesh. He had been training hard, he said, during the off-season to boost his chances of making the Ashes squad, shedding five kilograms in the process.

"It's been a week now and it hasn't settled down," Kasprowicz told The Courier Mail. "I can't sit down for any more than two minutes without it hurting. I've tried things like acupuncture but it hasn't worked. It feels a bit like it did on the South African tour.

"It does not look much good at all at the moment and there is no clear time frame as to when I will be bowling again. I will know more tomorrow. It's really disappointing because I had had a great off-season."

Kasprowicz was dropped from the Australian squad after a poor Ashes series last year, though he only played in two of the Tests. He missed Australia's entire home season against the West Indies and South Africa before returning for the return series against South Africa. He only took seven wickets in the series, but alongside Brett Lee went some way towards erasing the Edgbaston heartache by taking Australia to an exciting two-wicket victory at Johannesburg with a crucial ninth-wicket stand. His injury is the second setback to Australia's admittedly well-stocked pace attack after fast bowler Stuart Clark pulled out of the Champions Trophy in India with a thigh injury.