Warne likely to miss Sri Lankan series

A broken left hand has put Shane Warne out of cricket for three to five weeks. The injury, sustained while playing for Hampshire against Essex, has drastically reduced Warne's chances of playing in the Test series against Sri Lanka, which begins on July 1.

The series was viewed as a showdown between Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan, Test cricket's highest wicket-takers, but the freak accident, off Darren Gough's bowling, put a lid on the build-up to the series. "It was just one of those things," Warne said, "I ducked a short ball but it didn't get up and rapped me on the hand."

While Hampshire went about beating Essex by 114 runs, a hospital visit confirmed that Warne's hand was broken. Plans were then made for Warne to visit a hand specialist in Southampton but Paddy Farhard, Hampshire's physio, said that the injury would take time to recover. "He has broken a fifth metacarpal bone in his left hand," said Farhard. "Shane will be seeing a hand specialist at Southampton on Monday but he is expected to be ruled out for three to five weeks."

Though Warne bowls with his right hand, the injured left hand could hamper his movements on the field, as well as his batting. What makes the timing of this injury doubly frustrating for Warne is the fact that he recently returned to international cricket in spectacular fashion after a 12-month suspension, with a haul of 26 wickets in three Tests against Sri Lanka.