Injured Steve Smith out of West Indies tour

Steve Smith is another high-profile player expected to miss next month’s tour of the West Indies as injury and fatigue take their toll.

Australia's Steve Smith will miss the West Indies tour with an elbow condition

Steve Smith is among several players expected to withdraw from the squad for the West Indies tour at the end of the month. Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis are also among those considered unlikely to get on the plane.

Smith is understood to be suffering from an elbow condition and is being managed ahead of the T20 World Cup and an Ashes summer.

The batsman had elbow surgery in January 2019 on the eve of his return to the team and was again sidelined from state duties late in the summer.

Smith said at the time he “had some pain in my elbow that’s gradually worsened since the Test against India at the SCG and requires some rest and rehab”.

Pat Cummins and David Warner are also due to withdraw from the white-ball tour for personal reasons. Vice-captain Cummins’s wife is expecting their first baby and Warner has been granted time with his wife and three children given the amount of time he has spent — and will spend — in biosecurity bubbles.

There are also suggestions Cummins could be carrying an injury.

It is going to be interesting to see if the big names who do not travel to the West Indies choose to return to the IPL when it recommences in September.

The tournament would, however, be an ideal warm-up for the World Cup, which was scheduled for mid-October.

Five or six players from the original squad are expected to withdraw from the original 23-man squad. Selectors announced six additions to the preliminary squad late on Tuesday, with veteran Dan Christian and exciting Test all-rounder Cameron Green among them.

Christian and Ben McDermott have been forced to cut short a stint in English cricket and face two weeks in quarantine on return to Australia before the flight departs for the West Indies.

Ashton Turner, Wes Agar and Nathan Ellis are the other additions to the list.

Marnus Labuschagne will remain in the UK despite him expressing his frustration at his exclusion from the original squad.

The batsman told The Times during the week that he has not given up hope of playing for Australia in the T20 World Cup.

“With Covid, the amount of quarantine that is needed for me to play in those games is almost 38 days,” Labuschagne said.

“Any time you can’t go to play for Australia is a very disappointing time, but the silver lining is that I get to play most of the T20 comp here and almost double the amount of T20s I have played in my career. I’ve played 16 before and I will play 14 here.”

“I would love to be playing in the World Cup in a few months. I don‘t know if it is a realistic goal from the selectors, but it is a realistic goal from my perspective.”

“The six additions to the Qantas Australian men’s squad follow discussions with players selected in the initial preliminary list for the tours of the West Indies and Bangladesh,” national selector Trevor Hohns said.

“During the course of those discussions, it has become clear that recent experiences abroad, including but not limited to extended periods in bio-secure hubs and hard quarantine, have had an impact on the health and wellbeing of some players and their families.

“CA has maintained that the wellbeing of players, staff and officials is a top priority, and never more so than during the Covid-19 pandemic, given the extraordinary challenges it has placed upon international athletes and sporting teams.“

Updated Australia squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Wes Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Dan Christian, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Tanveer Sangha, D‘Arcy Short, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa