Australia pace bowler Kane Richardson is to return home for further examination on a back injury and has been replaced by Joel Paris in the squad for their final one-day match against New Zealand in Hamilton today.
Richardson, 24, did not play in Australia’s four-wicket victory in the second match in Wellington on Saturday.
“Kane Richardson’s back pain hasn’t subsided sufficiently to take part in the final ODI in Hamilton,” a Cricket Australia spokesperson told Australian reporters in Wellington on Sunday.
“He will return home today for further investigation into the issue and Joel Paris will join the squad in Auckland this afternoon as cover.”
Paris has just finished playing a Sheffield Shield match for Western Australia against New South Wales in New Zealand.
Richardson joins a long list of injured Australian pace bowlers with Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins both long-term injury concerns.
Nathan Coulter-Nile is also sidelined, though James Pattinson, who has been complaining of shin soreness, has joined up with the test squad in New Zealand.
Opening batsman Aaron Finch and all-rounder James Faulkner are suffering from hamstring injuries.
Australia’s bowlers limited New Zealand to 281-9 in the second match at Wellington, with only a late flurry from Mitchell Santner and Adam Milne taking the hosts to a competitive total.
While Mitchell Marsh and John Hastings got Australia home, a batting collapse should be of some concern after captain Steve Smith, George Bailey and Glenn Maxwell all failed for the second successive game.
Smith has scored 20 runs in two innings, while Bailey has two, and was bowled for a golden duck on Saturday, with Maxwell scoring a total of six.
Another concern for Australia has been their inability to halt New Zealand’s bowlers when they have their tails up.
In the first game at Eden Park they slumped to 41-6 inside nine overs, while on Saturday they lost four wickets for 22 runs after a century stand between Usman Khawaja and David Warner.
They also lost two wickets for six later in the innings, giving New Zealand a whiff of an unlikely victory before Marsh (69 not out) and Hastings (48 not out) guided the tourists to victory.
Australia have not lost a bilateral one-day series since they went to India in October 2013, while New Zealand are seeking to retain the Chappell-Hadlee trophy at Seddon Park.
They have also not won a series against Australia since a 3-0 victory in 2007, when the visitors rested several of their top-line players ahead of that year’s World Cup.