Cricket Australia is fretting over Steve Smith's availability for the T20 World Cup and Ashes after the batting mainstay's elbow injury flared up again during the suspended Indian Premier League (IPL) forcing him to pull out of the national team's limited-overs tours of the West Indies and Bangladesh.
"I can't tell you how long or how serious (the injury is) but it's something that he's had before, and it definitely flared up again whilst playing in the IPL," Trevor Hohns, the national selection committee chairman, was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.
"How long it'll take to get it completely right, I can't tell you that at the moment… the main thing from our point of view with Steven is to make sure he is fit for the T20 World Cup and of course the Ashes next season."
Smith had undergone elbow surgery in January, 2019. The injury, which flared up again, had also sidelined him from domestic cricket for a month through February-March.
Smith had represented Delhi Capitals in six games in the Indian Premier League (IPL) that was suspended last month.
The Aussies play five T20 Internationals and three ODIs in the West Indies in July and then play another limited-overs series in Bangladesh in August.
They then play the T20 World Cup in October-November before the Ashes gets underway in Australia from December 8.