Duminy was extremely dejected upon hearing the seriousness of his injury
South Africa batsman Jean Paul (JP) Duminy is set to miss up to six months of cricketing action after tearing an Achilles tendon in his left heel during a post-match warmdown on the first day of the first Test against Australia.
Duminy had not been on the cricket pitch for the entire first day and he sustained his injury after slipping when doing drills with fitness coach Rob Walter.
Duminy was initially treated by team physiotherapist Brandon Jackson, but in the end, he had to be carried off the field by both Jackson and bowling coach Allan Donald.
The South African batsman was rushed for an emergency X-ray scan, which revealed the seriousness of his injury.
South African team manager Mohammed Moosajee said: “He was running in the shuttle sprints and heard a pop, the diagnosis of an Achilles’ tendon rupture was confirmed by the MRI scan this evening and he will undergo surgery to re-attach the tendon on Saturday morning. Injuries of this nature are caused by a sudden contraction against the direction of movement by the calf muscle, as was the case during his sprint. We will only be able to gauge an expected recovery date further down the line, but injuries of this nature have been known to take up to six months before the player can resume playing cricket. He is obviously disappointed, but is trying his best to stay positive; he says everything happens for a reason.”
Duminy has already flown home and will no longer be part of the South African team for the remainder of their Test series against Australia.
The left-handed batsman’s absence during the first Test meant that captain Graeme Smith had to bowl since Duminy was the only specialist spinner in the squad after leg-spinner Imran Tahir had been left out.