CRICKET NEWS:IRELAND WICKETKEEPER Niall O'Brien could be ruled out for the rest of the summer after an X-ray on a troublesome hand injury showed considerable damage to his left index finger.
The 28-year-old Northamptonshire player picked up the injury at the end of last season, and it flared up again during the World Twenty20 qualifiers in Dubai in February.
An X-ray on his return to England revealed a fracture, but O’Brien played on through the qualifiers and the recent finals in the Caribbean with the aid of painkillers and heavy strapping.
A further X-ray last Wednesday showed the damage has got worse, and O’Brien will see a specialist in Northampton this morning.
“It’s not ideal. The two options are getting a pin in it that would put me out for a minimum of two, possibly three months,” said O’Brien.
“The other option is to get an injection in it straight away to try and take a lot of the inflammation down and the pain away and just crack on,” said O’Brien, recently named vice-captain at Northants.
The Sandymount native was due to be included in the Ireland squad for the One-Day International against Australia at Clontarf on June 17th.
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