Palladino plans quick recovery from broken jaw

Derbyshire seam bowler Tony Palladino has a fighting chance of being fit for the start of the county season after returning from a pre-season tour to Barbados with a broken jaw. After flying into Manchester airport, he was driven to London to see a specialist and had an operation in which a plate was screwed into the jawbone.

Derbyshire's head coach, Karl Krikken, has said that Palladino, who had only recently recovered from a hernia operation, will be able to bowl again in a week. Had the jaw been wired, his recovery would have been much slower. "That is great news for us and for Tony because he has a chance of being ready for the start of the season now," Krikken said.