Steelbacks sweating over Vasconcelos hand fracture ahead of Blast quarter-final
Northants are sweating on the fitness of Ricardo Vasconcelos after the opener suffered a fracture in his hand during the short-lived Vitality County Championship Division Two clash with Gloucestershire at Bristol on Thursday.
The left-hander was struck on the hand by a delivery from home pace bowler Ajeet Singh Dale before the match was abandoned after just 65 overs of play, and it has been confirmed he suffered a fracture.
And with the Steelbacks’ Vitality Blast quarter-final against Somerset now less than a week away, Northants head coach John Sadler is keeping his fingers crossed that Vasconcelos's fracture is not a bad one.
The Steelbacks have already been dealt a double injury blow with the news that experienced all-rounder Ravi Bopara and teenage fast bowler Raphy Weatherall have been ruled out of the clash with the Cidermen, and they can ill afford to lose another key player.
"We have heard back that Vasco has a little fracture in his hand, and with a big week coming up that is not good for anyone," Sadler told BBC Northampton. "We will have to see how bad it is.
"The fracture could be a real mess, or it could just a little hairline or something and he might be able to continue."
If Vasconcelos were to be ruled out of the last-eight date with Somerset, then the Seelbacks would be facing something of a selection headache.
Bopara and Weatherall are already sidelined, while there has as yet been no confirmation that South African batter Matthew Breetzke will be returning for the knockout encounter.