Victorian captain Cameron White believes state and national team-mate Peter Siddle will bounce back quickly from a serious back injury which has ruled the quick out of not only the rest of the domestic summer but also the upcoming tour of New Zealand.
Twenty-five-year-old Siddle - who has played 17 Tests and 15 one-day internationals for Australia - faces an uncertain future after scans revealed on Wednesday that his back injury is worse than originally feared.
"It's bad news isn't it. I felt sorry for Pete when I found out this morning," White said on Wednesday just prior to Australia's training session ahead of Friday night's Twenty20 international against Pakistan.
Siddle was rested for the final match of Australia's recent one-day series against Pakistan in Perth on Sunday after originally pulling up sore following the second match of the series in Sydney.
But after being rested for game three in Adelaide, Siddle was surprisingly played in game four in Perth on Friday night but White is not sure whether that appearance contributed to the worsening of the injury.
"I think it has been publicised a bit that Pete has bowled quite a lot," White said.
"But I don't know whether that is it (the cause of the injury) or there are other reasons behind it."
"Stress fractures in the back are an injury that lots of fast bowlers seem to get at various stages of their careers so they have been getting them for years so whether it's due to the workload at the moment, I'm not sure."
However White is convinced that Siddle - who was also sent home early from the one-day tour of India in early November with a side strain having also missed most of the 2006/07 season following a shoulder reconstruction - will bounce back from his most serious injury setback yet.
"It's not like it's a career threatening injury," White said.
"Other fast bowlers have come back from them really strongly and Pete is one of those guys that does everything right (in terms of his preparation) so I'm sure he will get right and be back in no time."