Samuels Out of Action for Three Months

Promising West Indies middle order batsman Marlon Samuels will be out of action for at least three months, much longer than originally expected, according to a report out of Sharjah.

It means the Jamaican right-hander would most likely miss the upcoming home series against India and New Zealand.

The recuperation of Samuels, who had a keyhole procedure done to the inner part of his right knee, was originally set at six to seven weeks but, according to team manager Ricky Skerritt, the rehab of the injured knee would be much longer.

Samuels, who travelled to Sharjah with a "large defect" of the knee bone, has not played a single match of the tour.

According to the new report, the surgery removed a piece of bone after x-rays revealed a large defect on the inner part of the right knee. "The part of the bone that required removal proved bigger than anticipated and three small incisions had to be made, rather than two," Skerritt was quoted as saying.

He said that it had been a success and that Samuels had reported feeling no pain in his knee for the first time in two years.

Samuels, who has played in 12 Tests and 29 ODIs for the Caribbean team, will remain in Sharjah until the ODI series is over. Runako Morton has been summoned to Sharjah to take his place and reports are he will be included in the final eleven for tomorrow's first game.