Collymore's VB Series participation in doubt

West Indies preparations for the tour of Australia have suffered yet another blow with a side strain rendering Corey Collymore's participation doubtful. The team's physiotherapist said that he was the fifth West Indian fast bowler to be afflicted by injury in recent times.

Stephen Partridge, the team physio, said that Collymore's situation was a touch-and-go scenario, because though he would be ready to play, he wouldn't necessarily be match fit. West Indies open their VB Series campaign against Australia on January 14.

"I need to speak with the coach, but my impression is that he is probably not going to have enough bowling," The Trinidad and Tobago Express quoted Partridge. "Around the time the VB Series in Australia starts, I expect Corey to be pretty much close to full steam.

"The problem he'll have is that he would have had very little competitive bowling before that. He will be building his bowling up through the latter half of December and the first week of January when he will be pretty much close to full throttle, but the question then would be that he would not have had match-type conditions. That may prove a barrier for him for the Australia tour." Collymore had suffered injuries frequently in the past, but Partridge said that the previous ones were multiple-level stress fractures.

Tino Best, Fidel Edwards, Jermaine Lawson and Ravi Rampaul were bothered by back injuries and were left out of the 25-man training camp before Collymore joined the casualties list. The injuries added to the team's dilemmas, which include the contentious issue of signing a playing contract that could affect the players' image rights.