Kent’s injury jinx has struck again after Chris Benjamin was ruled out for the rest of this season.
Benjamin dislocated his shoulder when he was run out during the Vitality Blast clash against Middlesex at Lord’s last Thursday.
The 26-year-old remains positive about a return but Kent head coach Adam Hollioake says it doesn’t look good.
“He’s struggling,” said Hollioake. “He’s probably dislocated his shoulder. He keeps telling me he’ll be back next week. As good a cricketer and a good player as he is, I think he’s terrible as a doctor.
“I don’t think he’ll be playing for the rest of the season – that’s medical advice.
“He tells me he’ll be back in time for the end of the Blast. I don’t know if he’s talking about this year or next year!
“It was a bad injury, I’ve seen the scans. He’s a tough kid as well, I wouldn’t write him off, so we’ll just see how he can recover.”
It was only Benjamin’s second outing in T20 cricket for Kent. Having joined from Warwickshire, Benjamin has impressed in the County Championship with scores of 94 not out and 93 against Glamorgan and Gloucestershire last month.
Benjamin becomes the third Kent player to be ruled out for the summer, after South African Keith Dudgeon only featured in one game and Jas Singh was ruled out after a promising start to the campaign.
“We’ve had three season-ending injuries this year,” noted Hollioake. “You don’t account for that when you’ve got a squad of 19. Then you’re down to 16. We’ve had four side injuries in the last month.
“It’s been a freak season, but it is what it is. We’re a sports team and we’ve just got to deal with the rollercoaster, there’s no point complaining about it. Other sides go through the same.”
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Hollioake had more positive news over the four players who picked up side strains during a two-week period, including Joey Evison who is close to a return to action.
Ekansh Singh, Jayden Denly and Corey Flintoff all picked up the same injury in quick succession.
