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ESPNcricinfo staff 8y

Lynn and Finch out of Sri Lanka T20s

Australia tour of Sri Lanka 2016, Cricket

Chris Lynn and Aaron Finch are the latest Australians to be injured on the Sri Lanka tour. They joined Shaun Marsh (broken finger) and Nathan Coulter-Nile (back injury) on the injury roster, and will not be available for the two T20Is later this week.

"Chris dislocated his left shoulder whilst diving during a fielding drill at training today," Australia's physiotherapist David Beakley said. "Consequently he will be unavailable for the remaining matches and instead will return to Brisbane to undergo further investigation to determine the full extent of the injury.

"Aaron was hit on the right index finger when fielding a ball [during the fifth ODI] and subsequent x-rays have shown a fracture."

The injury to Lynn's left shoulder continues a disastrous trend for the batsman, who in the lead-up to the 2014-15 season had surgery to fix a rotator cuff problem in his left shoulder. As a result, he missed the entire Matador Cup campaign and the first half of the Sheffield Shield summer.

Then in September 2015, Lynn dislocated the same shoulder during a fielding drill and once again missed the entire Matador Cup season, in which he was set to captain Queensland, and the first half of the Shield summer. The 2016-17 Matador Cup season is to begin in less than four weeks.

Although the seriousness of the latest injury to Lynn's left shoulder remains to be seen, given his history the possibility of a third consecutive curtailed season would be a major blow. Lynn's entire international career so far consists of five T20s, but for some time he has been considered one of the most promising batsmen in the country.

Lynn had been in prime form in the Caribbean Premier League, topping the run-charts with 454 runs at an average of 45.40 and strike-rate of 133.13. Finch had been one of Australia's most dominant batsmen in Sri Lanka, striking a record-equalling 18-ball fifty in the fourth ODI.

With Mitchell Marsh and Steven Smith having left for home to rest, Australia were almost in danger of not having XI fit men to put on the park for Tuesday's T20 until they asked wicketkeeper Matthew Wade and batsman George Bailey to remain in Sri Lanka after the ODI series that ended today.

Wade, who will stay on for both T20s, and Bailey, for one of them, have also handled Sri Lanka's spinners in dry and dusty pitches excellently. Usman Khawaja had been added to the squad when Marsh was forced to leave last week. Finch will perform 12th man duties during the T20s.

Australia squad: David Warner (capt), George Bailey, Scott Boland, James Faulkner, John Hastings, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Usman Khawaja, Glenn Maxwell, Peter Nevill (wk), Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa

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