Rankin injury blow for Ireland

Boyd Rankin has been ruled out of Ireland’s fixtures for the remainder of the season after suffering a fracture of his left tibia.
The Bready pace bowler suffered the injury training with Warwickshire ahead of their ongoing Championship clash with Surrey.
Subsequent scans revealed the fracture which will rule him out of Ireland’s KPC Group Series this week against Pakistan, the ICC InterContinental Cup and T20 matches against Hong Kong, as well as next month’s ODI’s against South Africa and Australia.
Cricket Ireland Head Coach John Bracewell said: “It’s obviously a blow to lose a bowler of Boyd’s quality and experience at such a crucial juncture of the season, but these things happen in sport and we wish Boyd a speedy recovery.”
Bracewell confirmed that Ireland will not seek a replacement for Rankin in the matches against Pakistan at Malahide.
“The selectors felt we have plenty of options in the seam bowling department with Craig Young back in the squad following his recent elbow surgery, while Barry McCarthy, Peter Chase, Tim Murtagh and Kevin O’Brien all performed well in the recent Afghanistan series.”