Di Venuto may miss English season

Tasmanian left-handed batsman and recently appointed Derbyshire captain Michael Di Venuto is likely to miss the entire 2004 English county season, because of a chronic back problem.

Di Venuto suffered the injury at the end of Tasmania's Pura Cup campaign in Australia. He is supposed to meet a neurosurgeon next week to see if surgery is required to remove a piece of a bulging disc that is pinching a nerve to his leg.

If Di Venuto does undergo the surgery, rehabilitation from the same is likely to take as many as six months.

Di Venuto took over as skipper of Derbyshire at the end of last season after Dominic Cork left for Lancashire. It now seems likely vice-captain and wicket-keeper Luke Sutton will take over.

Derbyshire's other overseas signing, Di Venuto's Tasmania teammate Damien Wright, has also pulled out, as he has been forced to undergo knee surgery. He has been replaced by Victorian all-rounder Jonathan Moss.

Posted by Sudeep