Windwards U-19 cricketer injured

“I HAVE a game to win!” That is what Windward Islands off spinner Asa Edwards wrote from his hospital bed last night after he lost his speech. Edwards dived head first into the metal railings of the Rohan Kanhai Stand in a valiant attempt to prevent an Aaron Ragoonath boundary yesterday afternoon on the first day of the TCL Group Regional Under 19 three day finals at Bourda. Edwards was unconscious for some two hours after the accident and lost his speech for three hours after that.

During the time that he could not speak Edwards used his hands to signal for writing implements and wrote the following message: Windwards “I have a game to win.” Manager Emmanuel Nathan said that the note was shown to the entire team and all the players have vowed to go out and win the match for Edwards since he risked his life for the team. “His note showed his strength and determination, his fighting spirit and I think it’s quite good for cricketers because he was just trying to save a boundary and it is part of the process of going out to win and fighting for his country,” an emotional Nathan said. When he was out for about two hours, it was quite frightening, there he was unable to move his head or his eyes or his feet or anything,” the manager said.

“We were wondering if this guy is going to be crippled for the rest of his life or whether he has any spinal injury and it was very, very, very scary,” Nathan said. The doctor said that the hit cramped up his entire body and it is taking some time to  release itself and be fully functional again,” the manager related. The report on Edwards is very positive as his attending doctor has promised to release him at lunch time today once there is no relapse. The doctor said that he anticipates that he will be able to play this afternoon and tomorrow once his body is fully ‘uncramped’ the manager told Windies Cricket. com. Edwards spent last night in the Prashad Hospital in Georgetown under observation and is expected to rejoin his team during the lunch session at Bourda.