Thursday 21 April 2016 10:04, UK
Lasith Malinga is a serious doubt for Sri Lanka's tour of England with what doctors are now describing as a 'substantial' knee injury.
Sri Lanka kick off their Test series against England on May 19 at Headingley, but Malinga has already retired from that form of the game and the one-day series does not start until June 21, giving him an extra month to return to fitness.
Pace bowler Malinga had already been ruled out of the entire Indian Premier League season with the injury and, although scans have shown he will not necessarily need surgery, a quick return appears unlikely.
Malinga suffered the injury during Sri Lanka's home series against the West Indies last November and has only played one competitive game since, missing the World Twenty20 in India as well.
"Malinga is suffering from a stress reaction in the knee," Sri Lanka Cricket medical committee chairman Dr. Harindu Wijesinghe said.
"This has been caused by pressure being put on the knee. There is a chance that a stress reaction could worsen to a stress fracture, at which point he would need surgery.
"A few doctors have been advising Malinga, and we feel that he needs to rest his knee, while undergoing physiotherapy and strengthening.
"Only after seeing how he the injury reacts to this, will we be able to say how long he might be unavailable. It might be a number of months before we decide to scan and test him again. It's difficult to put a time frame on his recovery."
