West Indies' Marlon Samuels falls over avoiding a bouncer from Australia's Brett Lee during the fourth day of the second cricket Test in Hobart, November 20. The West Indies started the day at four wickets for 82 runs in their second innings, after Australia were all out for 406 runs in their first innings. - REUTERS
HOBART, Australia, (CMC):
INJURED WEST Indies & Jamaican batsman Marlon Samuels has been forced out of the third and final Test against Australia this week and returns to the Caribbean today.
Samuels' premature departure from the West Indies squad in Australia is as a result of suffering an injury to his left knee after a cricket ball hit him on the second day of the second Test at Bellerive Oval.
"His MRI scans were encouraging since it confirmed no new damage," said team physiotherapist Stephen Partridge.
"At this stage he would need to rest his knee for at least two weeks and in consultation with Marlon it was decided that the best place to achieve that would be at home in Jamaica," Partridge explained.
NOT FIT ENOUGH
Given the back-to-back schedule of the final Test match, Samuels would not be able to recover in time to be considered for selection to the final eleven.
"It is disappointing that I am not able to complete the tour but this is an unfortunate situation and I need to heed the medical advice now so that there is no further damage," Samuels said before his departure.
14 MAN SQUAD
The squad will now consist of 14 players as no replacement will be sought since there is only a solitary Test match remaining in the three match series along with a one-day game against the Prime Minister's XI.
The final Test will commence on Friday (Thursday night Caribbean time) at the Adelaide Oval.
Squad - Shivnarine Chanderpaul (captain), Ramnaresh Sarwan (vice-captain) Chris Gayle, Devon Smith, Wavell Hinds, Brian Lara, Dwayne Smith, Dwayne Bravo, Denesh Ramdin, Tino Best, Daren Powell, Fidel Edwards, Jermaine Lawson, Corey Collymore.
