OJ Pitcher may have been at the airport yesterday lunchtime with the rest of the national squad, but a freak training-ground accident the night before meant he was unable to board the plane for the crucial Canada tour.

Practising his slip catching during the final training session at the National Sports Centre before heading north, the young St. David?s opener was struck a nasty blow in the mouth from a ball which ricocheted out of wicketkeeper Dean Minors? glove.

The 23-year-old had his two front teeth knocked out, his upper gum torn by the ball?s seam and his top lip split wide open ? a sickening injury which is expected to prevent him playing cricket for over three weeks.

Dabbing repeatedly with a white towel at his stitched and heavily-swollen lip while watching his team-mates check-in, Pitcher revealed that his dentist would be unable to replace his missing teeth until the lip has healed, meaning a lengthy lay-off is unavoidable.

Along with his joined-at-the-hip best friend Delyone Borden, Pitcher was already scheduled to return to Bermuda after the four-day Intercontinental Cup game against Canada which begins tomorrow, as both have to return to college in Florida at the end of the month.

Bermuda have picked a squad of 15 for the game in Toronto, but will have to whittle that down to 13 when they name their official squad for the revamped competition today.

National coach Gus Logie said yesterday that the selectors had considered bringing in another batsman to replace Pitcher, but with the Bermuda top six now likely to read something like Stephen Outerbridge, Borden, Clay Smith, Irving Romaine, Janeiro Tucker and Dean Minors, it was felt that the options available were already sufficient.