Northamptonshire batsman Ricardo Vasconcelos will undergo surgery on an injured ankle, ending his 2019 season.
The news cuts short what had been a breakthrough year for the young South African, scoring 750 runs in the Specsavers County Championship – putting him fourth in the division for runs scored.
“I’m extremely disappointed to get injured at such a crucial part of the season. I think it would be tough no matter what type of season I was having but I do think it makes it a bit harder because on a personal level there’s not that many times you are able to get a 1000 runs in a season and I was on track to do so, so of course it makes it a bit harder to take.” Vasconcelos said.
The left-hander went down in the warm up of the final day’s play against Derbyshire last week, but Vasconcelos said the nature of the injury doesn’t make it any harder to take.
“It was kind of a freak injury really, it could’ve happened anywhere so there’s not much I could’ve really done about it. Sometimes these things happen and you’ve just got to suck it up and get on with it.” he said.
Vasconcelos is Northamptonshire’s leading run scorer in red ball cricket this season and has been instrumental in seeing the side rise to third on the table before the Vitality Blast break. Despite the setback, Vasconcelos still believes the side has what it takes to secure one of the three promotion places come the end of the season.
“Of course I still think we can go up, there’s enough talent in that dressing room to achieve anything. Obviously I would love to be a part of the promotion push, but I’ll be supporting the boys all the way from the sidelines.” he said.
That may be easier said than done however, as Vasconcelos conceded he’s not the best when it comes to watching his side play.
“I’m not a great watcher to be honest, but I don’t really think anyone is.” he said.
“I’m going to be right behind the lads and will be the first person to congratulate them when they do well because that’s what they’ve done for me throughout the season. Everyone here wants everyone to do well and that’s why we are going to be successful as a team.”