George Cannonier fears OJ Pitcher’s health scare will not only rule him out of Cup Match but possibly the rest of the season as well.

The St David’s coach admits the loss of his captain just before lunch with chest pains was a massive psychological blow to the Eastern Counties champions. St David’s had to bat with only ten players against Bailey’s Bay after Pitcher never returned from the hospital.

Chasing 223, St David’s were dismissed for 162 after some controversial decisions went against them. “It had a psychological effect on us, you lose your leader, captain and it seems the rest of the army falls,” Cannonier said.

“The captain is a very important person, especially when he is one of your better batsmen. I had a meeting with the players and told them what they had to do because we were a man down. Everything seemed to go against us, we had that bad decision with Lionel’s [Cann] run-out. A lot of things happened that shouldn’t have and it all seemed to go against us.”

Pitcher missed Sunday’s league game against Somerset Cricket Club and could also be ruled out for Cup Match.

“I don’t know if he’s going to be able to play again this season,” said Cannonier, who visited his captain on Sunday. “He seemed all right and was just resting. He said they have to do more tests and couldn’t say what happened to him.”

Pitcher had a bout of flu last week but appeared to have recovered in time for last weekend’s match at Lord’s.

St George’s hold their final Cup Match trial on Saturday at Wellington Oval, with the team then being selected in the evening. With the players facing two long days in scorching heat during Cup Match, there may be concerns about Pitcher’s ability to play.

“I don’t think he’ll contend for a spot in Cup Match now, knowing OJ I don’t think he will,” Cannonier said. “I don’t think he’ll be able to play as soon as Saturday, I don’t think the doctors will allow him to. I just have the feeling he’s not going to play much more this season.”

Cannonier was immediately concerned when Pitcher collapsed on the field before being taken to hospital last weekend.

“I was concerned when it happened, I knew he wouldn’t be able to bat,” the coach said.

Pitcher’s season last year ended the day after Cup Match when he was involved in a motorcycle crash in Paget that left him with a serious knee injury.

He watched from the sidelines as St David’s reclaimed the Eastern Counties trophy with victory over then holders Cleveland County.

Pitcher recently stood down as Cup Match captain, but was looking forward to playing under new captain Macai Simmons, who played for St David’s in the Eastern Counties last weekend.

St George’s have made six changes in each of the last four years and could make at least three for next week’s game if Pitcher is ruled out.

Stefan Kelly, based in England, will not be available because of a knee injury while former captain Oronde Bascome may be overlooked as he has played little this summer since his transfer to St David’s.

Players in contention include seam bowlers Kyle Hodsoll and Zeko Burgess of Bay and left-arm medium pace bowler Cejay Outerbridge of St David’s.