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MELBOURNE, Thursday (Reuters) - Injured Sri Lanka off-break bowler Muttiah Muralitharan will miss the first half of the upcoming limited overs series against Australia and England, Australian newspapers reported on Thursday.

Muralitharan, 30, who was no-balled for throwing by umpire Darrell Hair in the 1995-96 Melbourne test against Australia, will miss a showdown with Hair in the December 17 match against England in Brisbane, local media said.

Muralitharan had a hernia operation in Melbourne on Tuesday and will be out of action until January when he is expected to be available for the second half of the triangular series in Australia ahead of the World Cup in South Africa starting in February.

Quintus de Zylva, an Australia-based Sri Lankan team doctor, said it would be three weeks before Muralitharan trained.

"He's recovering okay," Dr de Zylva was quoted as saying by the Australian Associated Press.

"But he's unlikely to be fit for competitive cricket until in the new year."

De Zylva said the decision to schedule the surgery for Muralitharan, third on the all-time list of wicket-takers in test cricket, was not an attempt to avoid Hair.

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