With fellow Australian seamer Scott Boland sidelined by plantar fasciitis, Durham has signed Peter Siddle for their next six County Championship matches.
Boland was originally contracted until the end of July on a multi-format deal that would have seen him take part in Durham's T20 Blast campaign. However, the foot injury meant he was late for the opening Division One match against Hampshire, which was rained out for all four days, and was aggravated after 13 wicketless overs against Warwickshire.
Boland then missed the final round against Worcestershire, which Durham won in three days. Scans have revealed that the 35-year-old will now require what the county describes as "significant recovery and rehabilitation".
Having not played a Test match since the last of his 10 caps during the Ashes last summer, Cricket Australia had encouraged Boland to play as much cricket as possible this English season to build up his fitness ahead of the next Test series against India, which begins on 22 November. With Boland not in their T20 World Cup plans, there is plenty of time for him to overcome this latest setback. As a centrally contracted player, CA will now oversee his recovery.
Marcus North, Durham's director of cricket, has moved quickly to secure Siddle as a replacement. The 39-year-old is no stranger to county cricket after spells with Nottinghamshire, Lancashire, Essex and, most recently, Somerset. Across all four clubs, he has taken 189 wickets at an average of 22.98 - including 16 at 24.12 for Taunton last season.