Back injury forces Kirsten out of final

Sharjah - Gary Kirsten will miss Friday's Coca-Cola Cup final against Pakistan.

According to Craig Smith, the South African team's physiotherapist, Kirsten has a torn disc in his lower spine and might also miss the upcoming one-dayers against Australia next month.

"I've spoken to our orthopaedic surgeon in South Africa," said Smith on Wednesday.

"It's a touch-and-go situation and Gary will need to prove his fitness to us before he gets selected for Australia.

"The problem with this type of injury is that you can't rush the recovery period - you want to make sure the rehabilitation is completely effective."

Smith stressed that the next 72 hours were crucial if Kirsten is going to make a speedy recovery. He has prescribed bed rest, telling Kirsten that he needs to put as little pressure on his discs - which nestle between the vertebrae and allow them to move - as is humanly possible.

Smith believes that the injury, like the niggles suffered by Jacques Kallis, Herschelle Gibbs and Shaun Pollock in recent months, is purely attritional and might have been avoided had the load faced by international cricketers not been so onerous.

He added that he and Kirsten would be visiting the United Cricket Board's designated spinal orthopaedic surgeon on Monday to seek a specialist opinion, after which time he will have a better idea of how long the injury will take to heal.

Kirsten's injury comes at a most awkward time for South Africa's Cup hopes.

They will now be forced to flirt with a makeshift opener against possibly the best pace attack in one-day cricket.

With the uncertainty over the South African upper order, Shoaib Akhtar's pace - one of his deliveries on Tuesday night was recorded at 156km/h - looks to be a distinct threat to the South African batting.

In Kirsten's absence, South Africa will be looking to players such as Gibbs, who was rampant against Pakistan on Tuesday night with 59 not out, Kallis, and Hansie Cronje to stabilise the side's batting.