Batsman out of Pura Cup and county cricket

Love's season lost to knee injury

Cricinfo staff

January 29, 2007

Martin Love had made two centuries in his five Pura Cup games in 2006-07 © Getty Images

Martin Love insists a shocking knee injury will not end his career although it has ruled him out of the rest of the Pura Cup and England's county season. Love will have a knee reconstruction this week and will be out of action until at least 2007-08.

The freak injury occurred during a seemingly innocuous touch football warm-up at the Gabba on Sunday, ahead of Queensland's Pura Cup match against Western Australia. Scans confirmed ruptured anterior cruciate and medial ligaments in Love's left knee.

"There was nothing in it, it was like he was just walking along and he went down," Jimmy Maher, the Queensland captain told AAP. "It's just devastating. It's a massive loss, to lose a bloke of his calibre, he's not replaceable."

Love was in the middle of a solid year of first-class cricket and was coming off 109 in his previous game, against Tasmania last week. "Basically I went to start off the drill and stepped off my left foot and just went down in a heap," Love said.

"It goes without saying that I'm terribly disappointed at the way things have gone. But there are certainly no thoughts of giving it away. I know that there is plenty of hard work ahead but I'm determined to be back next season." Love, 32, played five Tests for Australia in 2002 and 2003 and had signed with Warwickshire for the 2007 county season.

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