Mondli Khumalo to undergo tests after collapse

The KwaZulu-Natal Inland Cricket Union will send youngster Mondli Khumalo for further neurological tests as they seek professional medical advice on his cricketing future.

Khumalo’s return to cricket after a brutal attack in England last year that landed him in a coma and resulted in three critical head operations suffered a setback when he collapsed during a four-day match in Pietermaritzburg on Sunday.

The former Junior Proteas and Tuskers star was in the UK on a short-term contract with North Petherton Cricket Club when he was attacked near the Green Dragon pub in Somerset in late May.

This weekend Khumalo was the 12th man in a 4-Day Domestic Series match between the Tuskers (KZN Inland) and Eastern Cape Iinyathi.

He suffered a seizure that again cast doubts on whether the 21-year-old will be able to play cricket again.

Khumalo told TimesLIVE on Monday he was the 12th man on Sunday, but KZN Inland CEO Jason Sathiaseelan disputed this, saying the player had not yet been fully drafted back into the squad and was not rushed back to the pitch.

He said the Tuskers had begun easing Khumalo back into the set-up as a report from the player’s doctors in the UK said he could start light training six weeks after his last operation, which was in June.

“We can’t put him in the squad until we get clearance from a neurosurgeon. These are things that we are very mindful of,” Sathiaseelan said.

“We have spoken to the CSA Cricket South Africa (CSA) doctor too and one good thing they said is that the seizure happened a long time after his operations.

“These things do happen, you get seizures after brain operations, but that it happened after such a long time is actually a positive thing compared to having it just after the operation.”

Sathiaseelan said the return of Khumalo to the field of play will now heavily depend on the neurosurgeon’s second opinion that Inland are seeking.

“We are booking an appointment with a neurosurgeon ourselves to give us professional medical advice on it because we can’t afford to put him on a cricket field or even have him train with the team, and then something more serious happens,” he said.

“He was treated in the UK, so we got the report from the UK and we got the consent from Mondli, and now we will share it with a surgeon who will give us a proper medical report.

“My concern is he is already planning to go back to the UK to play cricket this season. He has done his visa application and processing stuff.

“I actually sent the message to his agent this morning making him aware that he just had a seizure, but also that he recovered quickly.

“But we definitely need to be careful because having a brain operation and being on a flight for 12 hours may not be good for him.”

An unidentified 27-year-old man was arrested for assaulting Khumalo and released while inquiries continued.