Australia call up Sean Abbott to replace injured Andrew Tye for T20I series

The seamer suffered an elbow injury while throwing during a training session on Friday and is unlikely to be fit for Australia's series against Pakistan that follows the games against Sri Lanka

Australia have been forced into a late change to their squad for their T20I series against Sri Lanka, with Andrew Tye ruled out.

The seamer suffered an elbow injury while throwing during a training session on Friday. It is also thought to be unlikely that he will be fit for the subsequent three-match series against Pakistan that follows.

Sean Abbott has been called up to replace Tye – a surprise choice, given the skillset of Tye and the other more similar options available to chief of selectors Trevor Hohns.

Nathan Coulter-Nile and Jhye Richardson could have been picked as more like-for-like options, while the off-spin of Chris Green would have been an intriguing alternative.

Abbott, who has re-joined Sydney Thunder ahead of the upcoming Big Bash season after six seasons with Sydney Sixers, last played for Australia in 2014.

He has only played three T20Is and a single ODI, but was part of the Australia A squad that toured England during the summer.

He will only join Aaron Finch’s squad ahead of the second game on Wednesday, which takes place at Brisbane. As a result, Australia will have the quartet of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Kane Richardson and Billy Stanlake to choose from for the first instalment of the series.

Finch, meanwhile, is confident that he will be fit to take part in the series, despite feeling the effects of a side strain.