MELBOURNE, Dec 1: West Indies pace bowler Corey Collymore is to have knee surgery and is expected to miss their tour of New Zealand early next year. Collymore, who took eight wickets in the 3-0 Test series loss to Australia, is to have surgery to remove a bone spur on the patella tendon of his right knee, a report on Cricket Australia’s official Web site said on Thursday.

He is expected to need at least four months to recover, ruling him out of West Indies’ five One-day International, three-Test tour of New Zealand that starts in February.

The 27-year-old is likely to be fit for West Indies home series against India, starting in April.

West Indies conclude their tour of Australia with a one-day match against the Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra on Friday with world record holder Brian Lara likely to make his final appearance in Australia.—Reuters