Sydney, July 3 : Former Australian team's assistant coach Jamie Siddons has sued Cricket Australia (CA) for compensation as, he alleged, he hurt his shoulder while throwing cricket balls for hours together during net practice on the 2005 Ashes tour of England.

Siddons, Sheffield Shield legend, mentioned his writ that his continuing shoulder problems were a result of being required to throw cricket balls on a "constant, repetitive and forceful basis". The case is due for pre-trial hearing in October.

In the writ lodged in Victoria's Supreme Court, the former free-scoring batsman for Victoria and South Australia reportedly said he that suffered injury, loss and damage. Though he has not claimed any monetary compensation in the writ, the Supreme Court actions could involve sums of several hundred thousand dollars, reported news.com.au.

A cricket insider said Australia was criticised for not training enough on the 2005 tour, and "throwing cricket balls is essentially what a coach does - especially an assistant coach."

Siddons is now head coach of the Bangladesh national team, due to play a one-day series in Australia from next month.

"I can verify he threw a lot of cricket balls on the tour. We knew he was injured when he returned from the tour. We knew he had an injury sustained from throwing. There's no doubt about that," the Herald Sun quoted Buchanan, Siddons' boss during 2005 Ashes tour.

Meanwhile, Cricket Australia has expressed surprise at the move, even as its spokesman said it was unaware of the writ. "We can't talk about Jamie Siddons, but it is common for a batsman to have a member of the coaching staff involved at the training session to stand relatively close and to throw the cricket ball at a pace," the spokesman said and added: "It's a throw-down, and is common in club cricket and elite cricket."

Siddons represented Australia only once internationally, making 32 in a one-day match against Pakistan in 1988. He also played two VFL games for the Swans in 1984.

ANI