Watson passed fit for World Cup 07 Sep 2007 By: James Nixon

Australian all-rounder Shane Watson has overcome his hamstring injury and been passed fit to play in the Twenty20 World Cup.

Australia physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said in the statement that "Shane has recovered sufficiently from the hamstring injury he sustained training in Brisbane last Sunday to join the squad in South Africa. He will join the team on Monday with a view towards playing at some stage during the ICC World Twenty20 Championships."

The news is good for captain Ricky Ponting too with the Australian captain saying that his wife's health has improved.

Ponting said in a statement "Fortunately Rianna's health has improved over the last few days and I'm hoping travel plans can be finalised as soon as possible. With things on the improve, Rianna and I are both keen that I now focus on the job at hand with the Australian team."

Ponting went onto say "I'm grateful for the support we've both had from Cricket Australia and my teammates and in particular I'd like to thank Adam Gilchrist and Tim Nielsen for their leadership roles in the early days of the Australian squad's first-ever Twenty20 international tour. It made things easier here knowing the team was in such good hands."

Australia's first game of the World Cup is against Zimbabwe on 12th September.

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