Selectors shoulder the burden of Warne's replacement

SYDNEY, Dec 16 AAP - The repercussions of Shane Warne's shoulder injury will be felt next week, next year and, possibly, by the next generation of Australian spin bowlers.

Warne underwent surgery today on his dislocated shoulder and will be out of action for at least four to six weeks, opening a huge hole in the world's best cricket side.

The first job for the national selection panel will be finding a replacement for Warne ahead of the tri series match against Sri Lanka on December 22 in Perth.

Then it has to find another spinner for the fourth and fifth Test matches in Melbourne and Sydney.

After that it's the rest of the one-day series which lead to the World Cup.

Australian team doctor Trefor James said Warne was a good chance of being fit for the World Cup which starts in seven weeks.

But the selectors will have to be prepared for an Australian team without the famous No.23.

National selection convenor Trevor Hohns admitted the next few days would be tough for the selectors.

"We've certainly got a lot of thinking to do," Hohns said.

"We, as a group of selectors, have several options."

Hohns said it was hard to make decisions about Warne's immediate successor.

He emphasised the selectors' attitude was to pick the best available team each time rather than use upcoming matches to test credentials of those in the queue.

"We pick the best team - it's not a matter of giving someone an opportunity for the sake of it.

"We'll be picking the next best spinner."

Finding a replacement for the Perth match is the least of the worries as the bouncy WACA ground suggests the addition of pace bowler Andy Bichel would be a way around the matter, with Darren Lehmann's occasional spin as a back-up.

For the Test matches, there's really only one option - Stuart MacGill.

MacGill's Test career has been brilliant with 82 wickets in 17 Tests at an average of 25.

Against England he's been phenomenal with 27 wickets from four Tests at an average of 17.

That gets the selectors through to the New Year.

But what happens for the World Cup if Warne doesn't regain full fitness, or reinjures the shoulder?

The big problem the selectors face is that MacGill is not in the Australian 30-man World Cup squad.

The legspinner included in that squad is Victorian youngster Cameron White.

The squad also includes leftarm spin bowlers like Mark Higgs, Brad Hogg and all-rounder Michael Clarke, who is already close to inclusion in the final 15-man squad.

White is an ideal one-day prospect, he's a good bowler, he can bat like a top-order player and he led the Australian under-19 side to victory in the youth World Cup.

But he's only 19.

Whether he's ready for the big stage on the high veldt is a tough question.

That's why the national selectors have been trying to get in touch with the International Cricket Council (ICC).

"We're seeking a bit of clarification from the ICC about bringing in someone from outside that 30-man squad," Hohns said.

And he's not talking about Steve Waugh.

If the Australian Cricket Board gets the green light to bring in a player from outside the 30-man squad, bet on it being MacGill.

MacGill is regarded as an expensive one-day bowler because of his attacking style.

But in three one-dayers for Australia, he has taken six wickets and conceded only 3.5 runs per over.

In one-dayers for NSW and Australia A he's taken 94 wickets at 21.70 and conceded 4.79 runs per over.