Australia have called in spin-bowling allrounder Cooper Connolly to their Champions Trophy squad to replace Matthew Short, who was ruled out with a quad injury.

The 21-year-old Connolly, who made his ODI debut in England last year, was initially named as a travelling reserve for the tou ament. The ICC's Event Technical Committee approved his inclusion in the Australian squad early on Monday.

Short, who made a vital contribution of 63 off 66 in Australia's win over England, appeared uncomfortable during his knock of 20 off 15 in the washed-out game against Afghanistan on Friday after sustaining an injury while fielding.

Captain Steve Smith had all but confirmed his side's need to find a new opener for the remainder of the tou ament after the final group game.

'I think we saw tonight he wasn't moving very well. I think it's probably going to be too quick between games for him to recover,” Smith had told Prime Video.

While Australia have another spare opener in Jake Fraser-McGurk, he would leave them short of a bowling option. Short sent down seven economical overs of spin against Afghanistan, giving away just 21 runs.

This could tempt the side to bring in Connolly, whose left-arm spin could be an important asset to have in Dubai, where they are set to face India in the semi-final on Tuesday.

But the ability of Travis Head to send down part-time off-spin, as well as Ma us Labuschagne's handy leg-spin – he took two late wickets against England – mean Australia are reasonably well covered for spin options behind frontliners Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell.

Aaron Hardie is another replacement option for Short. The seam-bowling allrounder has batted in the top-order before but his inclusion would more likely force a batting order reshuffle.  (cricket.com.au)