AN UNTIMELY injury may have prevented Martyn Cull from possibly playing at Lord's, but he will still be a part of Suffolk's big day.Cull, who played in the semi-final victory over Oxfordshire, broke his right arm while playing in Frinton's Cricket week against the PCA Masters side when he was struck by a delivery from former England all-rounder Chris Lewis on July 29.

AN UNTIMELY injury may have prevented Martyn Cull from possibly playing at Lord's, but he will still be a part of Suffolk's big day.

Cull, who played in the semi-final victory over Oxfordshire, broke his right arm while playing in Frinton's Cricket week against the PCA Masters side when he was struck by a delivery from former England all-rounder Chris Lewis on July 29.

The opening batsman, who lives in Ipswich and plays in the Gibbs Denley East Anglian Premier League for Clacton, was in contention for a place in the Suffolk side to face Cheshire in Monday's Minor Counties Knockout Trophy final, until his bad break.

Cull, who visited hospital for a check-up on Tuesday and was told it will be at least three weeks before he can start playing again, said: “It hurt at the time but I just carried on batting and I thought it would be all right. After I got out it was starting to hurt quite a bit, and it was still hurting when I woke up in the morning so I went to the hospital.”

It was then that the 24-year-old realised his dream of appearing in the final at the home of cricket was over.

“When I was told my arm was broken the first thing that entered my mind was that I would not be able to play for Suffolk at Lord's. I was naturally very disappointed.”

But Cull, who made his debut for Suffolk last year - he has played in five three-day Minor Counties fixtures since making his first appearance against Cambridgeshire - has been included in Suffolk's official 16-man party for the big day. He will join the 13-strong squad along with Kevin Brooks, the county's director of cricket, and team coach Andy Brown.

Cull, who visited Coes men's wear shop in Ipswich with other members of the squad to be measured for his outfit yesterday, said: “Kevin Brooks has been great and kept me involved as part of the squad, which has been good. I will travel with the squad and take part in everything, but will not be available for selection. It should be a great day out, and I am looking forward to sampling the experience of going to Lord's with the rest of the team.”

Brooks said: “It is a huge disappointment for Martyn that he has injured himself leading up to this match, but he will still be very much a part of the day.

“He is very passionate about his cricket and any opportunity to play for Suffolk, so it will be good to have him around and hopefully it will make up for some of his disappointment at being ruled out for the final.”