Injuries cut down Kirsten and Ngam

One misfortune piled upon another in the South African national squad on Wednesday as both the veteran opening bat Gary Kirsten and exciting young fast bowler Mfuneko Ngam were ruled out of the Third Castle Lager/MTN Test Match against Sri Lanka starting at SuperSport Park on January 20th.

Kirsten has a fractured bone in his left hand and is likely to be out for a month. He will miss the last three one-dayers against Sri Lanka as well as the Third Test, but his involvement in South Africa's tour of the West Indies in March and April does not appear to be threatened.

The news of Ngam, however, is far gloomier. A stress fracture in the 21-year-old's right femur has been diagnosed and the healing process, together with the time required to regain full fitness, could take up to three months. This obviously threatens his participation in South Africa's tour of the West Indies starting in March.

Ngam's future also has to be considered and he will see an orthopaedic specialist next week for a thorough examination. It has emerged that this is the third stress fracture suffered by Ngam in recent years - the first two affected his back and foot.

Tests will analyse his skeletal strength and determine whether his injuries are the result of a metabolic insufficiency or dietary in origin.

Ngam's future is clearly uncertain, and it would be a massive blow to the young man and South African cricket if he is unable to fulfill his potential.

There was precious little good news from the South African camp on Wednesday. Fast bowler Roger Telemachus is apparently "90 percent" with a stiff neck, and might be able to play in the fourth Standard Bank ODI at Newlands on Thursday, but Allan Donald will not start bowling until Friday after an abscess in his right elbow.

Alan Dawson, brought into the squad this week when both Donald and Telemachus were ruled out, has a right hamstring strain and might be out for two to three weeks. It seems unlikely that he will play on Thursday.

The only silver lining for South Africa came from the form of Boeta Dippenaar who scored 65 in Paarl. Herschelle Gibbs' return to international cricket after his ban has amounted so far to four balls in two innings, but with Kirsten out both Dippenaar and Gibbs can expect to play through the remaining games against Sri Lanka.

Considering the doubt that now surrounds Ngam's future, this is small comfort.