The Australian opener, Chris Lynn hasn’t been given a chance in the rebuilding Australia Test squad but the hard-hitting batsman will not risk injury to claim a place. Lynn, one of the hardest hitting batsmen in the shortest format of the game, has a history of serious shoulder injuries and dislocated his right one diving to field a ball in a Twenty20 international against New Zealand in February.
Talking about the same to the reporters in Perth, Lynn said, “It’s something not worth risking. If the ball is touch and go, then I’m better off just letting it go for four or whatever it may be than potentially missing four to six months with a shoulder injury. I’ve been in that situation too many times now. Mentally it’s tiring. Obviously, physically it is, but mentally it’s probably twice as hard. I don’t know how many times the shoulder can take it.”
However, Lynn has made a comeback to the new-look Australia ODI squad captained by Aaron Finch, with former skipper Tim Paine excluded after leading the team to a 0-5 series defeat in England. He has opted out of playing in the domestic Sheffield Shield competition, so will need to impress selectors with a pile of runs in three ODIs against South Africa starting in Perth on Sunday.
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Even then, the chances of breaking into Paine’s Test squad are very less, Lynn conceded. He said, “I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself, but if I do happen to score runs in these next three games, then obviously I’d put my hand up for Test selection, but I think that’s a little bit out of the equation.”
Australia’s T20 team suffered a 3-0 series defeat recently against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates, and Lynn said the Australian batsmen needed to be more calculating than aggressive at the crease.
The opener explained, “We saw over in the UAE we probably took too many risks. We want to play fearless cricket, not reckless, and I think there’s a massive difference there. So maybe put our egos aside a little bit and just bat. Spending time in the middle is the best way to do that.”
