St. George's facing fast bowling crisis

George O'Brien Jr's bid to regain his place in the St. George's Cup Match team has been dashed due to the violent act of an armed assailant during a brazen attack earlier this week.

The 25-year-old cricketer received lacerations to the arm from a bladed weapon - believed to have been a machete — during a disturbance stemming from an argument with another man at Mount Road, St. George's on Monday night.

The Willow Cuts pace bowler was taken to the Lamb Foggo Urgent Care Centre for treatment before being transferred to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital for further care.

O'Brien is the third St. George's seamer behind Stefan Kelly and Gregg Foggo Jr to be struck down by injury in the lead up to next week's Cup Match classic at Somerset Cricket Club.

U.K.-based Kelly is out with a knee injury, sustained while representing Bermuda during United Arab Emirates' recent tour of the island, while Foggo pulled a hamstring during St. George's' Cup Match trial with St. David's last weekend.

The trio's loss has forced St. George's coach Clay Smith to alter his game plan.

He said: "We were planning on going with a three-pronged pace attack this year looking to blow Somerset away with sheer pace. But with three of our key bowlers out obviously we are going to have to rethink our game plan and take a different approach."

Foggo has been his steady self all season while O'Brien really impressed during last Saturday's Cup Match trial at Wellington Oval.

Smith added: "George was head and shoulders above everybody else — he was really quick and bowling really sharp. We were really impressed with him and looking forward to having him back in the team and so he's definitely a big loss."

Incidentally, O'Brien missed last year's Cup Match through injury.

Among those who could be get the nod to replace the injured trio are St. George's club players Rudell Pitcher and Ryan Steede, Cleveland's Alan Douglas Jr, Flatts' David Bodard and St. David's' Angelo Cannonier.

"It's just a matter of who really grabs the bull by the horn come the final trial," added Smith.

The former Bermuda captain remains optimistic St. George's can retain the cup in the absence of key bowlers.

He said: "It's not going have a major effect on our approach because the onus is on Somerset to bring the game to us and we are going to pick up wickets. I feel we will pick up wickets relatively easy just by them being aggressive and bringing the game to us. So my main concern right now is to solidify our batting line up so that we are capable of getting whatever score they post."

Foggo

St. George's' selection chairman Lewis Foggo is keeping his fingers crossed that younger sibling Gregg and O'Brien can shake off their injuries ahead of next week's Cup Match clash in the West End. 

He said: "Gregg has a pull that might not be as bad as people are making it out to be while George hasn't come to me and let it be known that he is unavailable. However, the worst case scenario is that I still have bowlers available to me."