Jodie Fields misses World T20 with hamstring injury

Australia have suffered a setback after their captain Jodie Fields was ruled out of the World Twenty20 with a hamstring injury. Fields, the wicketkeeper-batsman, also missed the home-and-away internationals with New Zealand last season. She will be replaced in the squad by Alyssa Healy, while Alex Blackwell takes over the leadership role.

Fields almost made the trip but after failing a fitness test on Wednesday, she re-hurt the problem and will have surgery on Saturday. "Jodie had undergone extensive rehabilitation following her severe hamstring injury in January this year," the Cricket Australia physiotherapist David Beakley said. "She was on track to return to full fitness in the near future before unfortunately reinjuring the hamstring yesterday."

Fields said it was "a disappointing setback". "I'll go through the rehabilitation process and look forward to be back playing again this summer," she said. "It would have been great to make the trip to the West Indies, but I know the team is in safe hands with Alex in charge." Australia open their tournament against England on May 5 before facing South Africa two days later.