Flower may miss one-day series

Zimbabwe's top batsman and wicketkeeper Andy Flower may miss the triangular one-day international series featuring Zimbabwe, India and the West Indies starting on Saturday because of a thumb injury.

Flower injured his thumb with the first delivery of the fourth day of the second Test against India on Monday.

Seam bowler Andy Blignaut was bowling to Indian captian Sourav Ganguly, who left the ball which carried through to Flower and struck him awkwardly on the thumb.

"I went for x-rays and it showed that the thumb was not broken but there could be ligament damage," Flower said on Tuesday.

"I will go for an MRI scan today (Tuesday) and if that shows that the ligament is torn away from the bone then I could be out for a while."

It would be a huge blow to Zimbabwe as Flower is their top batsman with 3,908 runs at an average of 51.42 in 52 tests.

In 172 one-dayers Flower has scored 5,267 runs at an average of 33.54.

If Flower were unable to play then 18-year-old Tatenda Taibu, who toured England last year, would make his debut.

Flower was one of the key players against India in the two-match Test series that was shared at 1-1.

Zimbabwe lost the first test in Bulawayo by eight wickets but returned to beat India by four wickets at the Harare Sports Club on Monday.

Flower has been the rock of the Zimbabwean side but in the second Test a few youngsters started to proved themselves, he said.

Blignaut earned the man of the match award for his seven wickets, 51 runs and three slip catches and opener Dion Ebrahim scored a valuable 49 in the first innings which helped Zimbabwe to a 78-run first innings lead.

"Andy (Blignaut) was superb," Flower said. "Since the first innings in Bulawayo he has performed brilliantly and he has shown what he can do.

"Dion Ebrahim also came of age to a certain extent and I thought Travis Friend bowled with impressive pace.

"It's good to see some of the youngsters now coming through which is a boost for Zimbabwean cricket.

"I believe we are still the worst Test playing nation besides Bangladesh, who have just started playing test cricket, but with performances like this we can certainly climb up the rankings."

Mail Cricket Editor