means he cannot be held responsible for the Canberra Cannons' dismal season.

Patrick, the Island's only professional basketball player, is in his first term with the Australian side but has spent much of it on the sidelines.

But watching his team-mates must be almost as painful as the broken bone in his foot with the Cannons rock bottom of the National Basketball League.

The team are currently on a 10-game losing streak, the longest drought in franchise history, and are 3-21, heading for their worst ever season.

Their latest defeat came at the hands of Townsville on Saturday when they crashed 122-88.

The 24-year-old Patrick was originally injured when he landed on an opponent's foot during a game back in December. The injury was made worse because he continued to play for three weeks afterwards.

Patrick had expected to be back in action after a month or so but a recent prognosis ruled him out of any further involvement.

Speaking from Canberra, Patrick said: "I just got back from Sydney where I had to have surgery to retract a bone that had chipped off in my foot.

"The same injury kept nagging me and finally the doctors over here found a bone chip which was the problem.'' Prior to the injury Patrick had been settling in well to his new environment and was looking forward to playing a pivotal role in the team's fortunes.

"It has been unfortunate because I haven't played as much as I would have liked this year,'' he said. "But next year should be a lot better being injury free.'' Like the rest of his team, Patrick will set his sights on next season as he will run out of games before the healing process is complete.