Steve O'Keefe ruled out of remainder of Sri Lanka tour

In a big blow to Australia, Steve O'Keefe has been ruled out of the remainder of Sri Lanka tour. On the third day of the Pallekele Test on Thursday (July 28), the left-arm spinner left the field two balls into his 17th over, having tweaked his right hamstring. Jon Holland, the 29-year-old left-arm spinner from Victoria, has been called up as O'Keefe's replacement.


O'Keefe's injury hurt the visitors, as Kusal Mendis took advantage of the lack of a spin-partner to Nathan Lyon, to score a scintillating maiden Test century and help Sri Lanka steal a march in the opening Test.

"He proved he was the biggest threat to the right-handers. The injury to O'Keefe is a setback to Australia for sure," Mendis said after the third day's place. Lyon, Australia's right-arm spinner, also lamented losing O'Keefe to injury on Thursday. "I feel sorry for Steve, he's one of my good mates and to see him injure himself, I'm not sure where he's at, but to see him go off the field and for Australia to lose a vital member of our bowling attack is a pretty big loss for us."

Adam Zampa, the Australian leg spinner, is currently plying his trade for Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Caribbean Premier League, was also in the fray to take O'Keefe's spot in the squad, but the Australian think-tank opted for an identical spinner in Holland.

The track for the second Test at Galle, starting next Thursday (August 4), is expected to assist the spinners, putting Holland in line for a Test debut.