Welborn in shock title tilt
JOS BUTTLER feared the worst after slamming a ball into the head of a Sri Lankan fielder.
Pathum Nissanka was carried off and taken to hospital after being hit on the helmet by the England batsman yesterday.
England’s medical team helped place Nissanka, who had been fielding at short leg, in a head brace and on to a stretcher.
He was later stable and conscious ahead of an MRI scan.
“It is a thankless position to field at short leg and unfortunately these things can happen,” said Buttler, after the warm-up draw with a Sri Lanka Board President’s XI.
“You don’t mean to cause injury but it is an unfortunate accident.
“You always fear the worst. I hit him very hard and straight in the middle of the helmet.
“Luckily the medics rushed on and treated him, and it’s good to hear he’s doing better. Straightaway you’re worried about the guy. You don’t really care about getting out, you just hope the lad is ok.”
Buttler was out for 44 as the ball was caught from the ricochet, but he had looked almost as good as Joe Root before then.
The skipper scored the first ton of the tour before retiring for Ben Stokes to resume his innings.
Stokes brushed aside a minor injury concern after earlier retiring hurt after being hit by a short ball above the elbow. He suffered nothing more serious than bruising.
Sri Lanka’s plans ahead of the Galle Test have been thrown into chaos after bowling coach Nuwan Zoysa was charged with matchfixing by the ICC.
Zoysa is accused of three breaches, including being party to an effort to fix an international match, and has been suspended. JASON WELBORN has landed a shock world title chance against WBA and IBF light-middleweight champion Jarrett Hurd.
The Brit will face the unbeaten American on the undercard of Tyson Fury’s clash with WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder in Los Angeles on December 1.
Welborn, 32, was due to defend the British middleweight title against Mark Heffron on December 22.
But he opted to relinquish the belt to move back down to light-middleweight for a world title shot.
Huge
He said: “I will be fighting Jarrett Hurd for the IBF, WBA, IBO world titles on the Wilder v Fury undercard on December 1, live from Staples Center on Showtime PPV. It’s time to shine – my year.”
Welborn’s chance has come as a huge shock as he has been competing at middleweight and so is not ranked in the division below.
It looked highly unlikely he would get near a world title shot when he lost to well-respected journeyman William Warburton two years ago.
Welborn followed that up with a defeat by Craig Cunningham before landing a British title shot against Tommy Langford.
The West Midlands-based fighter came out on top twice against Langford in two thrilling fights.
But he takes a huge step up in class to face Hurd, who beat Erislandy Lara last time out to add the WBA belt to his IBF crown.