Rory Burns has joined Jofra Archer as a major doubt for England’s Second Test against South Africa, after picking up an injury playing football on the eve of the game.
Archer has had a scan on his right elbow, and appears certain to miss the Test having been limited to just six deliveries in the final two days of training before the match. He did not bowl or bat on Thursday.
Burns’ injury has caught England even more by surprise on a tour – which has seen 17 members of the touring party fall ill and the First Test lost in disappointing fashion – that is in danger of unravelling.
Burns injured his left ankle when landing awkwardly after taking a shot under pressure from his captain Joe Root. The team doctor was quickly at the scene.
He is hardly the first English cricketer to be injured in the football warm-up. In Sri Lanka last year Jonny Bairstow, an outside shot to retain his place after Burns’ injury, missed two Tests after picking up an injury, so no longer takes part. Nor does Joe Denly, now the regular referee. He was infamously chopped down by Owais Shah in his first spell as an England player a decade ago.
An injury to Burns, though, is very bad news for England. He was their top-scorer in Centurion with 84 in the second innings and has enjoyed a strong six months in Test cricket. It would likely leave them with an opening pair of Dom Sibley (three Tests) and Zak Crawley (one) in a game that Root described as “must win”.
