Samuels forced home by knee injury

Samuels has had his tour down under cut short by a knee injury © Getty Images

Marlon Samuels has been forced home from the tour of Australia with a recurrence of his long-standing knee problem. He was hit on his left knee by Brett Lee during the first innings at Hobart and required a runner when he batted a second time.

However, on a positive note for Samuels, the West Indian team physio, Stephen Partridge, said the injury did not appear as serious as when he was out of action for more than six months during 2003-04.

"His MRI scans were encouraging since it confirmed no new damage," explained Partridge. "At this stage he would need to rest his knee for at least two weeks and in consultation with Marlon it was decided that the best place to achieve that would be at home in Jamaica."

Samuels, while disappointed to miss the final Test at Adelaide, is aware this decision is for his long-term benefit. "It is disappointing that I am not able to complete the tour but this is an unfortunate situation and I need to heed the medical advice now so that there is no further damage."

After hitting the headlines with a superb 257 in a warm-up match against Queensland, Samuels has failed to fire in the two Tests scoring 5, 17 not out, 5 and 29.

With just the one Test and a one-day tour match against the Prime Minister's XI remaining a replacement won't be called-up. West Indies will select from a squad of 14 for the remainder of the trip. Wavell Hinds would be the logical replacement for Samuels at Adelaide, who himself was ruled out of the first Test with a broken finger.