Injured Best sent home

BIRMINGHAM: West Indies fast bowler Tino Best has had his England tour aborted because of the back injury he suffered in the First Test at Lord’s. Best, 22, was forced to leave the field during England’s second innings at Lord’s after developing a lower back injury, and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), in consultation with their medical team, decided to send him home for further treatment. “Best developed a stress reaction in his back which will require a few weeks to get better,” the WICB stated in a press release yesterday. “This condition was revealed after Best started feeling pain on the tour but as it is not a stress fracture, he should not be out for very long,” the WICB added. It is hoped that he will be available for selection for the ICC Champions Trophy in England in September.

Best will be replaced by Dave Mohammed, the left-arm wrist spinner, who has played only one Test, against South Africa at Cape Town in January. Mohammed will join up with the rest of the squad today. He is currently in Los Angeles, USA, on tour with a Trinidad and Tobago team. Best struggled in the Lord’s Test with only one wicket for 118 runs in 24 overs, and had taken four wickets in three matches during the NatWest triangular limited overs series in which the West Indies reached the final and lost to New Zealand.