Richardson set for shoulder assessment

Injured paceman Jhye Richardson will have his damaged right shoulder examined next week by Cricket Australia's medical team in Brisbane as he makes a late run for Ashes selection.

Richardson dislocated his bowling shoulder in the second one-day international against Pakistan in Sharjah in March, and while he was initially named in Australia's World Cup squad last month, he was ruled out of the tournament on the eve of the team departing for the UK.

Now the 22-year-old will be given every chance possible to prove his fitness, which could result in him being parachuted into Australia A's tour of the UK that precedes the Ashes.

Australia A head coach Graeme Hick says it will be up to CA's medical staff to determine the next steps for the exciting Western Australian. 

"By all accounts his shoulder has improved a little bit," Hick told cricket.com.au.

"They (CA medical staff) will make another decision next week when they see him and then gauge where he's at.

"They'll do as much as they can to see where he's at in terms of time span to get match ready to cope with what a Test match might throw at you.

"That could be anywhere between 30-40 overs and they’ll judge whether he's got the speed and the strength in his shoulder to get through.

"Same as the other (Ashes contenders), if they feel Richardson’s got a shot at it (the Ashes), then we'll give him the best chance to prepare for that.

"We'll just see how he is next week and take it from there."

While Richardson is fighting to be fit for the Australia A tour and Ashes selection, pace pair Josh Hazlewood and James Pattinson appear to be hitting their straps ahead of the five-week campaign.

Pattinson bowled 26 overs with the red Dukes ball for Nottinghamshire in their ongoing Division One County Championship clash against Warwickshire, while Hazlewood has ramped up his bowling in the past month.

Hazlewood, and fellow Australia A fast bowlers Jackson Bird, Chris Tremain, Scott Boland, Sean Abbott and Michael Neser hit the nets at Allan Border Field last week and the Test spearhead will head to the Queensland capital next week to finalise his preparation before departing for England on Friday.

The 28-year-old hasn't played a Test since January after suffering a back injury and is set to be carefully managed through the 'A' tour, which consists of five 50-over matches and three four-day games, culminating in a selection showdown against an Australian XI in Southampton.

The Southampton game will be the last chance players will have to push their claims before Australia’s Ashes squad is announced.

Hick was on deck to watch Hazlewood and the 'A' quicks bowl in Brisbane last week and liked what he saw from the pace battery.

"Josh is coming back from his back problem but I saw him last week up in Brisbane, all the fast bowlers were there, and all of them looked really fit and ready to go," he said.

"Josh looks in great nick. He'll play three of the five one-day games, I'm guessing, and maybe a couple of the four-day games.

"A lot depends on sharing the load and how the physios and medics see it and how they feel when they get back to competition again.

"The medical people have a big say in that and then talking to the bowlers about how they feel, especially coming back from injury.

"From the ones I saw last week, I was very impressed. I couldn't compliment them anymore in the way they turned up."

Australia A tour of the UK

Australia A one-day squad: Travis Head (c), Matthew Wade, Will Pucovski, Peter Handscomb, Ashton Turner, Mitch Marsh (vc), D'Arcy Short, Kurtis Patterson, Ashton Agar, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Josh Hazlewood (vc), Sean Abbott

Australia A four-day squad: Tim Paine (c), Marcus Harris, Kurtis Patterson, Will Pucovski, Travis Head (vc), Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade, Mitch Marsh, Michael Neser, Jon Holland, James Pattinson, Jackson Bird, Josh Hazlewood (vc), Chris Tremain

One-day fixtures:

June 20: Australia A v Northamptonshire, The County Ground, Northamptonshire

June 23: Australia A v Derbyshire, County Ground, Derby

June 25: Australia A v Worcestershire, New Road, Worcester

June 30: Australia A v Gloucestershire, Bristol Country Ground, Bristol

July 2: Australia A v Gloucestershire, Bristol Country Ground, Bristol

Four-day fixtures:

July 7-10: Australia A v Sussex, Arundel Castle Cricket Ground, Arundel

July 13-16: Australia A v England Lions, The Spitfire Ground, Canterbury

July 23-26: Australia v Australia A, Ageas Bowl, Hampshire