Back injury forces Lawson out WI squad

ST JOHN’S: Fast bowler Jermaine Lawson will be replaced by all-rounder Darren Sammy in West Indies’ squad for next month’s ICC Champions Trophy limited-overs cricket series in Britain. The 22-year-old Lawson is out of action for at least six weeks with a newly diagnosed stress fracture of the lower back and the ICC approved Sammy as his replacement. The 20-year-old Sammy is the first international cricketer to emerge from St Lucia and has officially, if not actually, made his limited-overs international debut for West Indies. Sammy was set to play against New Zealand at Southampton during the recent three-nation series in Britain, but the match was abandoned without a ball being bowled because of rain. Fortunately, the toss had been spun in anticipation of a reduced match, and under new ICC regulations, the match counted in the records since the toss had taken place.

The West Indies’ replacement is only the latest approved by the Event’s Technical Committee, comprising former South Africa wicketkeeper/batsman David Richardson, now ICC General Manager-Cricket (or his nominee) as chairman, David Clarke, ECB tournament director, Campbell Jamieson, IDI Commercial Manager, John Carr, ECB director of cricket, former India batting great and captain Sunil Gavaskar, along with former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding. The committee has approved requests from three other countries for the replacement of players in their 14-member squads for the tournament. Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar’s injured thumb has ruled him out of contention on medical grounds and he will be replaced by all-rounder Faisal Hossain. The Kenya Cricket Association’s request to replace Maurice Odumbe with Brijal Patel on “exceptional grounds” was also approved, along with Sri Lanka Cricket’s request to replace Muttiah Muralitharan with Kaushal Lokuarachchi on medical grounds —  the spinner is recovering from recent shoulder surgery. (CMC)