MELBOURNE, 13 June 2004 — Australia’s leading wicket-taker Shane Warne has a broken hand and is in doubt for the upcoming two-Test series against Sri Lanka, chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns said yesterday.

Warne was batting for English side Hampshire against Essex when he was struck on the left hand by a delivery from former England paceman Darren Gough.

“Shane phoned me overnight to inform me of the injury,” Hohns said.

“At this stage it’s too early to determine whether he will or won’t be available for the Top End tour (with Tests in Darwin from July 1-5 and in Cairns July 9-13).

“Cricket Australia medical staff need to talk to Shane and the medicos at Hampshire to determine a course of action and the selectors will be guided by that advice.”

Warne is expected to be out of action for at least three weeks. New South Wales leg spinner Stuart MacGill, who was left out of Australia’s 13-man squad named earlier this week, is a contender to replace Warne if the 34-year-old is ruled out.

India’s Zaheer Returns From Injury Before Asia Cup

In Bangalore, India’s left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan, who was sent home from the tour of Pakistan earlier this year with a hamstring injury, has regained fitness for next month’s Asia Cup one-day tournament in Sri Lanka.

However, the 25-year-old, who has a history of hamstring trouble, said he still needed extensive net practice before the six-team event starting on July 16.

“My fitness is fine now, but I’m at a stage where I just need to bowl more and more,” Zaheer told reporters yesterday at the end of a week-long Indian training camp for fast bowlers. “Injuries have been a worry for me, but this is just a phase and I’m confident it will soon go.” Zaheer took over as India’s frontline fast bowler after the retirement last year of Javagal Srinath, although youngsters Irfan Pathan and Lakshmipathy Balaji have stepped up as the leaders of the pace attack in the last few months.

Last December, Zaheer was sidelined for two months during India’s tour of Australia because of hamstring trouble.