Australia batter Steve Smith is set to miss the opening Test of their tour of West Indies with the finger injury he sustained in the World Test Championship final.
Smith, 36, sustained a compound dislocation to the little finger of his right hand while fielding in the slips on day three of the match at Lord’s, having dropped an edge from Temba Bavuma off the bowling of left-arm quick Mitchell Starc.
The first of the three-match Test series between Australia and West Indies starts in Barbados on 25 June.
Australia captain Pat Cummins said Smith’s mood was “positive” after the injury but his prospects of playing at the the Kensington Oval are slim.
“I think it’s somewhere around 10 days to two weeks, and then maybe you try and bat with a splint and see how that looks.
“So I think it’s a bit of a wait and see. I’d say first Test maybe unlikely and then kind of go from there, but it’s a bit early just to tell.”
Smith got his hands to the ball but shelled the catch, then immediately left the field in noticeable discomfort before he was taken to hospital for treatment.
Smith made his Test debut for Australia in 2010 and has scored 10,350 runs in 208 innings at an average of 56.55.
