Shoulder injury ends Jackson Bird's Kent stint

Bird tore a tendon in his shoulder during Kent's innings defeat against Hampshire, which caused him to miss the subsequent draw with Yorkshire last week

Jackson Bird has returned to Australia after his stint as an overseas player with Kent was curtailed by injury.

The 35-year-old was due to be available for the county's first six red-ball matches of the campaign, but he tore a tendon in his shoulder during Kent's innings defeat against Hampshire, which caused him to miss the subsequent draw with Yorkshire last week.

He took three wickets in the high-scoring draw with Essex on his debut for the club but went wicketless in his two subsequent outings, with Kent only bowling once in each of them. Their games have been more run-filled than any other, with 16 centuries scored in four matches.

Kent head coach Matt Walker called the blow "not a great injury", adding to Kent Online: "It's going to take a huge amount of rehab and he wouldn't be fit for his remaining time with us anyway. So, he's gone home."

^{Bird picked up all three of his Kent wickets against Essex (Jacques Feeney/Getty Images)}

Following news of the injury, Grant Stewart was recalled from a monthlong loan at Sussex, returning to star with the bat as Kent battled for a draw at Headingley. However, he was forced to use a runner after suffering a hamstring injury while bowling earlier in the game and is awaiting further diagnosis.

For Bird, it is the latest injury setback of recent times, having missed the first half of the Australian summer with an Achilles injury that ruled him out of the Big Bash.