Cayman T10 injury rules Bopara out of Northants' Blast quarter-final

A finger injury sustained playing in a T10 league in the Cayman Islands has ruled Ravi Bopara out of the T20 Blast's knockout stages.

Bopara is the fifth-highest run-scorer in Blast history and won the competition with Essex, his boyhood club, in 2019. He joined Sussex the following season and signed for Northamptonshire earlier this year on a T20-only contract.

He made a significant impact with bat and ball in the group stages. He was Northants' second-highest run-scorer and third-highest wicket-taker as they finished second in the North Group, reaching the knockout stages for only the second time since their 2016 title and securing a home quarter-final.

They will face Somerset at Wantage Road on September 5, but Bopara has been ruled out. He has undergone surgery after sustaining a finger injury while playing for Miami Lions in the inaugural Max60 tournament in the Cayman Islands, a privately-owned T10 league which is not affiliated to Cricket West Indies and took place last week.

"Bopara ruptured the tendon in a finger on his right hand while attempting a caught-and-bowled," Northants said in a club statement. "[He] has had surgery but will need three weeks of recovery time."

Raphy Weatherall, the 19-year-old seamer who took 11 group-stage wickets in the Blast, has also been ruled out for the rest of the season due to a lower-back stress fracture, a common injury among young fast bowlers.

Northants will also be without Sikandar Raza for the quarter-finals and are waiting to hear from Cricket South Africa whether Matthew Breetzke will be made available to play. Ashton Agar, the Australian allrounder, has been cleared to return.