Ben on...Mark Gillespie and his shoulder

It is known now that Mark Gillespie's numb shoulder is in fact due to the unlikely spread of a viral infection. It is still not known what his future in the tournament is or what will happen if he is forced to withdraw.

Gillespie won't be playing in Friday's match against Sri Lanka, as it is acknowledged that he won't be fit by then. However, an assessment of his future fitness will be made on Friday. He is currently on antibiotics, though this is not sustainable. One of the problems is that the anti-doping policy makes medicating a condition complicated. Therefore, it is quite possible that he will be pulled from the squad and replaced with another player.

It is a bit of a mystery as to who could replace Gillespie however. Chris Martin has a lot of supporters, myself included. However, Martin is not a natural replacement for Gillespie. Bringing Martin in may leave us with no death bowlers. Andre Adams is another option, though it seems he is facing a ban, which could make him a less than attractive prospect. The article about Adams mentions that Iain O'Brien might be a consideration except that he is possibly injured. Bringing in someone with no ODI experience would be a bit of a risk anyway.