Injured Gabriel heading home

West Indies pace bowler Shannon Gabriel will return home from the tour of England after picking up a back injury.

Windies bowler sees tour of England cut short by back problem

West Indies pace bowler Shannon Gabriel will return home from the tour of England after picking up a back injury in the first Test. The 24-year-old, who made his Test debut in the Windies' defeat at Lord's, underwent a scan after the contest which revealed a stress reaction in the lower spine. He has been ruled out of the remainder of the three-Test series and will travel back to Trinidad and Tobago to rehabilitate the injury. Tino Best has been called up as a replacement for Gabriel, who took match figures of 4-86 at Lord's including the prize scalp of Kevin Pietersen in the second innings. "Shannon made the complaint late in the first Test against England and scans conducted following the match showed a stress reaction in the lower spine," West Indies team physiotherapist CJ Clark said. "He was subsequently ruled out of the second Test and, after further consultation, we feel that to prevent this injury developing any further it is in Shannon's best interest for him to return to T&T for rest and rehabilitation to ensure he is fully fit when selected for West Indies in the future." Best has 14 Test caps and 12 one-day international appearances to his name but has not represented the Windies since 2009.