Shaun Marsh hurt, injury scare for Aussies

Australia are sweating on yet another injury scare that could affect their Test XI, with Shaun Marsh sent for scans after hurting his shoulder in the UK.

Marsh landed awkwardly while attempting to stop a boundary during a domestic Twenty20 match in Cardiff, having earlier opened the batting alongside Usman Khawaja.

The 35-year-old immediately called for assistance and left the field, with the early signs far from positive.

“Shaun’s a tough guy, so it’s certainly not a bruise the way he walked off holding his shoulder,” Glamorgan coach Robert Croft said.

“We’ll have to wait and see.

“We hope the scan will be favourable.”

Marsh hit career-best form during Australia’s Ashes triumph last summer and excelled with the bat during a recent ODI series loss in England, posting centuries in Cardiff and Durham.

The 35-year-old loomed as a certain selection for the tour of the United Arab Emirates to play Pakistan, expected to start in October.

That trip will feature Australia’s first Test series since a 3-1 loss to South Africa that was marred by the Cape Town cheating scandal.

Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft will be unavailable because of the bans issued by Cricket Australia in response to the ball-tampering saga.

Marsh’s younger brother Mitch is currently recovering from ankle surgery. The allrounder will captain Australia A in September, although he isn’t expected to bowl on that tour of India.

Frontline quicks Pat Cummins (back), Josh Hazlewood (back) and Mitchell Starc (leg) will also be racing the clock in a bid to return against Pakistan.

Cummins, Hazlewood and Starc – who haven’t played since the tour of South Africa – are hoping to resume bowling later this month.

“I’ve been getting a scan every month to track the progress. It’s probably a little bit slower than we would have liked, but all still pretty much on track,” Cummins told AAP last week.

“As long as there are no hiccups in the building-up stage … we should all be right for the UAE. We’ve all started running.”

Meanwhile, Glenn Maxwell insists his post-game snubbing of Sarfraz Ahmed in Zimbabwe was a genuine oversight rather than a case of poor sportsmanship.

Video emerged of Maxwell shaking hands with a teammate and umpires following Australia’s loss to Pakistan in the final of a Twenty20 tri-series, seemingly ignoring Sarfraz’s outstretched hand.

Sarfraz appeared far from impressed.

“In regards to the incident shown post match, it appears unsportsmanlike, and certainly not the way I play the game,” Maxwell posted on Twitter.

“It was a genuine oversight on my behalf and I’m currently looking for Sarfraz in the hotel to shake his hand and congratulate him and his team for their series win.”