Nottinghamshire's Luke Fletcher out for rest of season with head injury

Nottinghamshire seamer Luke Fletcher has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a head injury.

Fletcher was injured on Saturday while bowling against the Birmingham Bears in the NatWest T20 Blast clash at Edgbaston.

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He was struck on the head by a fiercely-hit shot by Sam Hain but managed to walk off the ground before being taken to hospital for tests.

Fletcher was released from hospital on Sunday but returned on Tuesday for further tests and Nottinghamshire have now confirmed he will not play again in 2017.

He told Sky Sports News HQ: "It's mixed emotions really. I'm gutted to be out for the rest of the season but having watched the footage of the night, I feel lucky as well.

"It was weird [to watch]. At the time, I felt alright, I never lost consciousness and was with it all the time. Only when you watch it back you realise everyone's concerns because it does look pretty bad.

"There was a few seconds when I got hit and I gathered myself and realised I was okay. Then I think I took my hand off my head and blood started spurting everywhere - that was when concern set in for a few of the Notts lads.

"The work from James Parks, our physio, was amazing - and the Warwickshire physio and staff at Edgbaston. They got me off the field quickly and it got sorted in good time. Everyone in my family knew pretty quickly I was okay.

"I've got an MRI scan on Monday in Birmingham and I have to see the surgeon again for the next three months for check ups."

The incident has led to the England and Wales Cricket Board looking into concussion substitutes and possibly use of skull caps for bowlers.

And Fletcher says anything that improves player safety has to be considered, as he added: "Whatever they do it has to be comfortable for the bowlers. If it is, and there is proof it does work, most bowlers will use that equipment.

"The way the game has moved forward, with some of the speeds them balls are coming back at bowlers, is ridiculous. I didn't see that ball at all and you can't react to something you can't see.

"There's near misses in the nets all the time and here at Notts a lot of the time we'll go off and do target practice on our own to stay safe, because like I said balls are coming back at such a speed you have no time to react."