Shane Warne is expected to recover in time for the World Cup after today undergoing surgery on his dislocated shoulder.

The best leg-spinner in the history of the game sustained the injury yesterday playing in Australia's emphatic 89-run triangular series victory over England at the MCG attempting to field a drive from Craig White off his own bowling.

He dived to his right but fell awkwardly on his elbow, jarring his shoulder - which he had reconstructive surgery on only four years ago to prolong his career - and instantly clutched it in pain before being stretchered off the field.

Melbourne specialist Greg Hoy performed exploratory surgery today, and the initial diagnosis was hopeful.

Although Warne will miss the remainder of the Ashes series, he should make the start of the World Cup in late February.

Team doctor Trefor James said: "There were no problems uncovered other than ligament and cartilage damage, which is expected with a dislocation.

"We are confident he will get back to bowling in the long term and, in the short term, we are looking at a timescale of four to six weeks.

"Without further unexpected damage being found, this is the best case scenario. I am optimistic he will be available for the World Cup."

It was feared that anything other than what is termed as a "clean dislocation" would rule Warne out of the World Cup in South Africa.

Even with the more positive news, the Australian cricket Board will have to show a leap of faith in his fitness with the final squads having to be submitted to the International Cricket Council by December 31.

Any setback in his rehabilitation would deny Warne the opportunity to play in one last World Cup before an impending retirement in the next three or four years.

But James said: "Shane has always been very diligent in his rehabilitation and he will do all the right things to get back.

"Dislocations are not very common in cricket, so there is no real comparison, but I would expect him to return without any problems."

Warne had already demonstrated his effectiveness during the previous night's match, claiming 2-39 in his 7.5 overs, and was one of the leading contributors to Australia's World Cup triumph in England four years ago when he claimed man-of-the-match awards against South Africa in the semi-final and Pakistan in the final.

In addition to the blow of missing out on the remainder of the triangular one-day series either side of Christmas, Warne will miss the last two Ashes Tests and the chance to add to his 491 victims and close in on Courtney Walsh's world record of 519 Test wickets.