Bairstow to miss T20 World Cup

LONDON: England’s Jonny Bairstow has been ruled out the final Test against South Africa and next month’s T20 World Cup after a “freak accident” playing golf.

Just hours after being named in England’s T20 World Cup squad, Bairstow was forced to withdraw after suffering a possible broken leg when he slipped while walking to a tee box at the Pannal Golf Club near Harrogate.

The 32-year-old’s bizarre injury is a huge blow to England´s hope of winning both the South Africa series – currently level at 1-1 – and the T20 World Cup in Australia.

The Yorkshire batsman had been in superb form this year, scoring 1,061 runs, including six centuries, in 10 Tests, while playing a key role in England’s white-ball teams.

“Jonathan Bairstow has been ruled out of the rest of the summer and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup after sustaining a lower limb injury in a freak accident whilst playing golf on Friday in Leeds. He will see a specialist next week to ascertain the full extent of the injury,” a statement from the England and Wales Cricket Board said on Friday. Bairstow took to Instagram to comment on the incident, which will need surgery and could be serious enough to put his participation for the rest of the year in doubt.