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John Mooney,
the man who hit the winning runs for Ireland against England in the
2011 World Cup, has been ruled out of the ICC World Twenty20 due to a
serious finger fracture. He suffered the injury when fielding in Irish
club cricket, having returned to the game as a bowler while still
resting a dislocated thumb sustained last month.
"I'm devastated to be missing out on the rest of the season and the
Twenty20 World Cup", Mooney told ESPNcricinfo. "I was playing as a
bowler for my club North County at the weekend as I was resting my thumb
from batting since I dislocated it against Afghanistan.
"I took a sharp chance low to the ground at first slip off Eddie
Richardson and looked down to see the top part of my middle finger was
floppy. I knew it wasn't good."
A visit to a finger specialist on Tuesday gave Mooney, who has won 134
Ireland caps, the news he was dreading. "He confirmed I have fractured
it and ripped the tendon from the bone," Mooney said. "I'm in a splint
now for 12 weeks where hopefully the tendon will reconnect with the
bone. It's particularly hard to take as I had to fly home from the
qualifiers early due to my hamstring injury.
Cricket Ireland performance director Richard Holdsworth said the initial
hope had been that an uncomplicated break might have had Mooney back
playing by September. "We had hoped that it was just a break, and he
might have been able to be back playing in 3-4 weeks", Holdsworth said.
"But he has damaged the ligaments and so we've reluctantly had to rule
him out. It's a great shame and a setback to him, especially as he was
injured in the qualifiers in Dubai. He's such a big part of the team and
we really want him to be there."
Mooney has been a key member of Phil Simmons' Ireland side since the
2007 World Cup, where he made just one appearance. The combative
Dubliner famously struck the final blow as Ireland beat
England at Bangalore in last year's World Cup.
But an injury sustained while diving for catch in the T20 qualifiers in
Dubai in March ruled him out of early season with his club. He recovered
and played a short trial with Sussex in June, before he returned early
after deciding a county career was not for him.
The Irish squad will be released at 9am local time on Friday, with England-bound Boyd Rankin certain to be included.
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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