James Tonkin dislocated and suffered a compound fracture to his little finger on Friday night when playing for the Linde Reds in the final home and away round of the Cricket Albury Wodonga Big Bash.

Although he took the catch at cover, his victims became the rescuers, as members of the Insight Clinic Privates administered first aid.

“The end of my finger was in the wrong spot — I dislocated it and the bone was sticking out of the front of my finger,” Tonkin said.

“There were a couple of orthopedic surgeons at the game and they gave me the first aid I needed — as bad luck as it was it was fortunate it was in the company of those people.”

Tonkin underwent surgery as a result of his injury.

He now finds himself in a cast with an initial estimate of six weeks out of action.

“I didn’t pick the ball up too well in the sky,” he said.

“I misjudged it and the ball ended up at the top of my finger — it all happened really quickly.

“It was as straightforward a catch as it could possibly be to be honest, a catch that shouldn’t cause injury, but that’s what happens.

“I had a similar injury two seasons ago when I missed three months of cricket — it’s a little frustrating but there’s not much you can do about it but suck it up and get better.”

The talented cricketer has several sides sweating on his return, though Linde Reds will miss him in their final.

The Christmas break has come at the right time for Wodonga, which will miss Tonkin in its campaign to win back-to-back premierships, while the CAW representative side is in action this weekend.

“It couldn’t have been better in terms of the cricket scheduling but the rest of my life is pretty impacted,” Tonkin said.

And although the injury is to his right hand, Tonkin said he wasn’t worried about the impact once the cast was off.

“It is disappointing but the team should be fine — there’s always silver linings in instances like this and it could be good for the club,” he said.

“There’s plenty of good senior cricketers playing second grade that could step into my role.

“There’s a couple of guys who can adapt their roles — I just have to get back when I can.”

And as far as looking for silver linings, at least Tonkin took the catch.

“So I wasn’t completely egg-faced,” he said.