Shane Watson's hopes of returning from a hamstring injury in time for the second Ashes Test on Friday have been dashed after he was ruled out of the squad by selectors to allow more time for the injury to heal.
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Watson suffered the injury while he was bowling for Queensland against Western Australia in a Ford Ranger Cup match just six days before the much-anticipated Ashes series kicked off.
"It was devastating, the worst moment of my career by far. I can hardly bring myself to talk about it," Watson told The Sunday Mail at the time.
Cricket Australia released a statement on Monday evening saying that after discussions with Alex Kountouris, Australian team physiotherapist it was decided that Watson still needed more time for recover from his injury.
"Shane Watson continued his rehabilitation this afternoon. The outcome was that his hamstring injury is still not fully recovered and it was decided that the second Test would be too early a return in the circumstances," said Kountouris.
"His rehabilitation will continue with a view to him being available for selection for the third Test in Perth."
The hamstring injury is the third in a sequence of horribly timed injuries for the budding all-rounder.
He dislocated his shoulder against the West Indies in Brisbane last season, which forced him to miss the rest of the Australian summer, and before that he had to sit out the 2003 World Cup due to a back complaint.
All three injuries occurred just as Watson was about to have the chance of proving himself as an international cricketer.
In the lead-up to the Ashes, and on the back of some encouraging performances in the one-day arena, Watson was earmarked as the potential nullifier of English super all-rounder Andrew Flintoff.
Selectors had all but included Watson in the final 11 to head up to Brisbane last week before his latest setback occurred.
The Second Ashes test commences on Friday in Adelaide.
