JAMAICA cricket head coach Junior Bennett said the team is behind national player Yannick Elliott after the all-rounder suffered a stroke during the Easter Holiday.

The 26-year-old Elliott is in the Kingston Public Hospital recuperating after reportedly initially complaining of “not feeling well in his head” when he was at home on Sunday.

The Jamaica Observer understands that he was taken to the University Hospital of The West Indies that same night, before moving to the KPH early Monday morning, where he is being treated for stroke.

A stroke or brain attack occurs when a blood clot interrupts blood flow to an area of the brain.

His team members visited him on Tuesday and, according to Bennett, they are “a bit shocked”, but are hoping for a speedy recovery.

“His left side is affected by the mild stroke so that side is partially dead. The team visited yesterday and he is talking. We are a bit shocked, but we just want him to get better quickly… he is still a young man,” Bennett told the Observer in a telephone interview yesterday.

Elliott has played three 50-overs and two Twenty20 matches for Jamaica and snared 2-49 in the recent Regional Super50 win over the Leeward Islands at Sabina Park.

The Melbourne Cricket Club player was also initially included in Jamaica’s 13-man squad to face Trinidad & Tobago today, but was since withdrawn.

Melbourne CC President Neville Atkinson visited the off-spinning all-rounder yesterday. He said some tests are still being done, but was optimistic of Elliott’s improvement.

“The doctor says that he has a clot somewhere in the brain, but they are not sure as to what caused it, so they are running some tests, and we are awaiting the results. From what I saw he walks okay and talks alright, but his left hand is a little weak.

“They (the medical personnel) haven’t said when he will will be released, but we expect that it will be shortly. The doctor says that he is still under observation and he will need to take a rest from cricket,” the club president said.

Atkinson said Elliott’s absence from the Melbourne team, which is set to depart for a tour of Bermuda on April 10, will be a “big blow”, but noted the player’s health remains of the greatest concern.

“He will not be going on the tour to Bermuda, and that’s a big blow to us, but right now we just want to wish him all the best.

“They (the medical personnel) haven’t said when he will will be released, but we expect that it will be shortly. The doctor says that he is still under observation and he will need to take a rest from cricket, because obviously his co-ordination might not be what it should be at the level at which he plays,” the club president said.

According to Atkinson, Elliott had successfully trained on Sunday and was home when he developed complications. The Melbourne president said it was “shocking”, given the player’s fitness level.

“I understand that he trained. He was home that evening when he complained of not feeling well in his head.

“We were shocked when news reached us, considering that he is a young, active person one wouldn’t expect him to have that kind of problem confronting him,” said Atkinson.