JP Duminy, the South Africa batsman, has been ruled out of the rest of the Brisbane Test
and faces three to six months out of the game after rupturing an
Achilles tendon in his left heel during the post-play warmdown on
Friday. He will have surgery on Saturday.
Duminy had played no part in the on-field action during the day, but was
doing drills with fitness trainer Rob Walter when he slipped. After
going down, he was treated on the field by physiotherapist Brandon
Jackson and had to be carried off by bowling coach Allan Donald and
Jackson. He was taken for X-rays immediately afterwards, which revealed
the injury.
"He was running in the shuttle sprints and heard a pop," Mohammed
Moosajee, the South African team manager, said. "The diagnosis of an
Achilles' tendon rupture was confirmed by the MRI scan this evening and
he will undergo surgery to re-attach the tendon on Saturday morning.
"Injuries of this nature are caused by a sudden contraction against the
direction of movement by the calf muscle, as was the case during his
sprint. We will only be able to gauge an expected recovery date further
down the line, but injuries of this nature have been known to take up to
six months before the player can resume playing cricket.
"He is obviously disappointed, but is trying his best to stay positive; he says everything happens for a reason."
Duminy will fly home, and 12th man Faf du Plessis will take up fielding
duties for South Africa in his absence. South Africa will name a
replacement for Duminy on Monday.
Duminy's injury means that South Africa, who are playing the Brisbane
Test without a specialist spinner, are without their favoured part-time
spinner too. Graeme Smith would have to bowl himself or Alviro Petersen
should the need for a bit of spin arise.
There is some irony in Duminy's mishap. He made his Test debut in
Australia four years ago, when an injury to Ashwell Prince resulted in a
spot in team opening up. Duminy was one of the standout performers of South Africa's 2-1 series win then.
Although he was dropped a year later, Duminy made a comeback in March
when Jacques Kallis' stiff neck in New Zealand created a vacancy. He
scored a century in Wellington and was able to secure a permanent spot
in the team when Mark Boucher's enforced retirement, also due to injury, allowed South Africa to lengthen their batting as AB de Villiers filled the wicketkeeper's role.
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