Vasconcelos to miss rest of 2019 season, set to undergo ankle surgery
NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - MAY 01: Ricardo Vasconcelos of Northamptonshire pulls the ball for four runs during the Royal London One Day Cup match between Northamptonshire and Yorkshire at The County Ground on May 01, 2019 in Northampton, England. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
Northamptonshire have suffered a major injury setback as opener Ricardo Vasconcelos is set to miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury.
Vasconcelos, 21, is set to undergo surgery on his ankle after suffering the injury whilst warming up ahead of the final day of their County Championship clash against Derbyshire.
The opener, a former Under-19 South Africa batsman, has been in good form for Northamptonshire this season scoring 750 runs in 10 County Championship matches.
This form has helped the South African be Northamptonshire’s highest run-scorer in the Championship and the fourth highest across the whole division.
The injury comes at an unfortunate time for both Vasconcelos as well as Northamptonshire with only four County Championship games remaining.
As things stand Northamptonshire are in the third and final promotion spot however they could slip to fourth if Gloucestershire win their ongoing match against Worcestershire.
The opener expressed his disappointment at having his season cut short at a key stage of the season.
“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.
“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.”
However, Vasconcelos remains confident that the county has the ability within its ranks to maintain their promotion push in spite of his absence.
“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,” Vasconcelos added.
“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.”
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