Samuels Out of World Cup

BREAKING NEWS: Marlon Samuels' injured left knee has ruled him out of next month's World Cup tournament.

Well-placed sources told CaribbeanCricket.com Samuels was withdrawn from the West Indies squad and replaced with Barbadian all-rounder Ryan Hinds.

Samuels, a right-handed strokeplayer who came of age during the recent tours of India and Bangladesh, was expected to play a major role in the West Indies batting line-up at the World Cup quest but the bothersome left knee, which required surgery Sharjah last year has again interrupted the career of one of the Caribbean's finest young batsmen.

The Jamaican batsman had an MRI scan as a precautionary measure last week after complaining of pain during the preparatory training camp in Antigua and was declared fit and ready for the World Cup by West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) doctor Akshai Mansingh.

Insiders say Dr Mansingh gave the all-clear for Samuels to travel with the team to South Africa as long as minor adjustments were made to his training program. The doctor's report after the MRI said that the surgically-repaired knee could break down at any time but made it clear there was no greater likelihood of that happening if he were to participate in the World Cup.

However, West Indies chief selector Vivian Richards decided to cut Samuels, saying he only wanted to take players who were 100% fit. Sources say several board members were unhappy with the decision to cut Samuels from the World Cup squad.

The agent for Samuels, John Pinnock, told CaribbeanCricket.com it was a little strange that the decision was made while WICB president Rev. Wes Hall was in New York on a brief business trip.

In addition to losing out on the opportunity to showcase his skills in the premier ODI competition, Samuels will also miss out substantial match fees and monetary rewards expected to be paid out to the West Indies players.

Pinnock said Samuels will now join the Jamaican Squad at practice for participation in this year's Carib Beer first class competition. Jamaica opens up against the Leeward Islands on January 31.

The bad break for Samuels is a stroke of good luck for Ryan Hinds, a left-handed batsman who bowls slow left-arm orthodox spin. The 22-year-old has appeared in four Tests and 11 ODIs for the West Indies.

EDITOR'S NOTE: After our report appeared, the WICB confirmed the news. The following is a press release issued by the board:

ST. JOHN'S, Antigua, Jan.26, WICB: Exciting middle-order batsman Marlon Samuels has been forced out of the West Indies 15-member squad for the Cricket World Cup 2003 in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya next month due to injury. The West Indies senior selection panel have named all-rounder Ryan Hinds as his replacement.

Samuels' World Cup disappointment comes as a result of a medical report submitted to the West Indies Cricket Board by Dr. Akshai Mansingh, a member of the WICB's medical panel, following a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan performed in Kingston on Thursday of last week.

While indicating that there was a possibility that Samuels could participate in the World Cup by "protecting his knee in training, and doing only gentle exercises", the report also stated that "it must be clear that he may break down at any time?."

The report further recommended that Samuels undergo additional corrective surgery on his knee that was operated on in Sharjah in February of last year nad which may involve a bone grafting procedure.

"We are disappointed at this turn of events and realise how much more disappointed Marlon himself must be," remarked Sir Vivian Richards, chairman of the West Indies selection committee, speaking on behalf of the panel.

"But, we believe that our decision to replace him for the World Cup is best both for the team at this time and, more importantly, in the interest of Marlon's future career. We see him as an extremely integral part of the future of West Indies cricket and we hope that the WICB will ensure that he quickly gets the best medical treatment available, so that he can begin his return to competitive cricket."

Hinds, already in Antigua as one of five reserves called by the selectors for the two-week training camp, will now depart with the rest of the team when they leave the Caribbean on Tuesday evening for South Africa.