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Double fracture puts India hopes on hold

Mike Bradley
13/10/2004

A DOUBLE fracture of the hand has postponed Stockport Rugby Club's Ben Kerr's opportunity to become a rugby union international - with India.

The highly-regarded back is eligible to turn out for the Indian side courtesy of his Indian-born grandfather who completed his national service in the Indian army before pursuing a successful career in medicine and relocating to Wales.

And to further complicate matters - Ben was born in Cardiff and has already played rugby for Wales and Great Britain.

"My brother is with the Newcastle Falcons and happened to meet a guy called Sanjay Syal, a current Indian rugby union international," said Kerr.

"And at that time Sanjay was looking for players eligible to play for the Indian side and my brother and I qualified through our grandad.

"I've already been to India, playing and training with the Bombay Gymkhana who have the majority of the Indian squad on their books.

"I must have made a good impression there because I was selected to play for India in the Asian games which is the equivalent of the rugby Six Nations and would have involved travelling to Bombay, Sri Lanka and Bangkok.

"However, while I was training with Stockport Rugby Club two weeks ago I fractured two of my fingers - on my flat-mate's shoulder of all places.

"I pushed them back into place straight away but went for an x-ray and discovered the extent of the damage.

"Initially the doctors wanted to put my arm in plaster, but they didn't have to and I hope to be playing for Stockport again sometime in November.

"It was a real shame to miss the trip to the Asian Games, especially after I took a demotion and pay cut at work so I could have my Saturday's free in order to concentrate on my rugby.

"I've already played for Wales students and Great Britain students and could still play for Wales despite aspirations to earn a cap with India."