Injury forces Roach out of Bangladesh tour

Bridgetown (Barbados) - Injury has forced fast bowler Kemar Roach to miss the Test series of the West Indies tour of Bangladesh, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) announced.

Roach is suffering from a knee injury and could be sidelined for about a month but may heal in time to play the one-day series, reports CMC.

West Indies team physiotherapist C.J. Clark described the injury as “a right medial hamstring tendon tear”, which Roach sustained in a club match three weeks ago in his native Barbados.

“Kemar has not recovered adequately from the injury to join the squad for the tour,” said Clark.

“He has commenced rehabilitation and will undergo further assessment. He is expected to return to action in three to four weeks time.”

Roach has been West Indies’ most successful bowler in Tests this year, snaring 39 wickets at 22.25 runs apiece in seven Tests.

He is tied with three other players as the second-most successful bowler in Tests this year, along with South African fast-medium bowler Vernon Philander, as well as off-spinners Saeed Ajmal of Pakistan and Graeme Swann of England.

Roach is being replaced by Fidel Edwards, who has taken 158 wickets at 38.37 runs apiece in 54 Tests since his debut nine years ago.

Edwards is scheduled to leave the Caribbean with the remainder of the 15-member squad Saturday.

The West Indies play Bangladesh in the first Test Nov 13-17 at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in that country’s capital of Dhaka, and the sec ond Nov 21-25 at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in the south-western city of Khulna.

The Tests will be followed by five One-day Internationals and a Twenty20 International.