The China Mail - Hazlewood out of T20 World Cup in fresh blow to Australia

The 35-year-old missed the entire Ashes series against England and has not played any cricket since November.

Earlier this week, Cricket Australia said he would miss the initial stages of the tournament with Sean Abbott called up as cover.

But on Friday they conceded Hazlewood had "run out of time" to be fit for the event which begins in India and Sri Lanka on Saturday.

"We were hopeful Josh would be back to match fitness by the Super Eight stage," said selector Tony Dodemaide.

"But the latest indication is he is still some time away and accelerating his programme will carry too much risk.

"We will not be naming a replacement player immediately. We feel we are well covered for the initial games so will make any later decisions based on priority need at the time."

Australia head to the World Cup in disarray after being thumped 3-0 by Pakistan in a warm-up series and are winless from their past five T20 internationals.

Pace spearhead and Test captain Pat Cummins had already been ruled out of the entire tournament as he slowly recovers from a lower back injury, with Ben Dwarshuis replacing him.

Australia's matches in Group B will all be played in Sri Lanka.

They open against Ireland in Colombo on February 11 and will also face the co-hosts Sri Lanka, and Oman and Zimbabwe.

P.Ho--ThChM