Wright to have ankle surgery after county stint

Damien Wright will have surgery on his injured left ankle this week after returning home on Sunday from his stint with Glamorgan. However, Wright said he expected to be available for Tasmania from the start of the Australian domestic season.

"I am having an arthroscope and a bit of a clean-up," he told the Mercury. "It's only very minor and will keep me out for about four to six weeks." Wright has had a bone spur removed from the ankle in the past but the latest problem appears to be inflammation around the joint.

Tasmania were concerned at Wright's decision to return to county cricket this year after Northamptonshire used him as a workhorse in 2005. The following Australian summer he managed only two first-class games as he succumbed to stress fractures in his back.

Glamorgan assured Tasmania Wright would be handled differently in 2007 but a thigh strain early in the season, combined with the ankle trouble and England's wet weather meant he hardly played at all. "I ended up playing eight days of cricket, and four of those were Twenty20 games, which go for about two and a half hours," he said.

Wright believed he could easily have played for the rest of the season with the aid of painkillers but he had learned his lesson from 2005. However, he did not rule out another spell in county cricket next year.