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BARBADIAN alLrounder Ryan Hinds is keeping his head up as he faces a brief pause in his cricket career.

The left-handed allrounder tore ligaments in his right knee when fielding as substitute during last Friday's fourth match at Ahmedabad and will need four to six weeks for the damage to heal.

"I hit one of the markers in the inner circle and it was very painful," the 21-year-old Barbados vice-captain said. "I didn't realise the full extent of the damage until I tried to make a catch at long-on and landed on the knee again.

"I'm disappointed that I have to be out of the game as I was hoping to make the trip to Bangladesh, but this is part of the game. It has set back my preparation for the World Cup [February to March 2003], but I will be staying focused and thinking positively."

Today Hinds will know definitely how long his recuperation will take when he visits Jacqui King-Mowatt, the Barbados team physiotherapist.

The injury was diagnosed by West Indies' new medical advisor Dr Akshai Mansingh, who told Hinds he would be out for four to six weeks.

He returned home from India on Wednesday evening and his knee is still badly swollen.

"Right now I don't know the full extent, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I'm hoping to be back out there before Christmas," he told WEEKENDSPORT from his home yesterday.

"I was told to receive treatment and after the third or fourth week I should be able to get back into serious training."

Hinds was badly out of touch during the two Test matches he played on the tour, making just 34 runs in four innings. He lost his place to Marlon Samuels for the final match.

"Basically, I didn't adapt as quickly as I should have and that was one of the reasons I didn't get going."

Hinds said that after the massive defeats in the first two Tests the entire team did some soul-searching, and this was the reason why they bounced back in the final Test and the ongoing One-Day series.

"The guys worked harder in the nets and we all pulled together in a big way," he said. "This was great for the team and we realised we could still salvage something from the tour."

© The Barbados Nation