Zafar Ansari will have a further appointment with a hand specialist on Wednesday before a decision is made over his place in England’s touring party for next month’s Test series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.
The uncapped spin-bowling all-rounder sustained an open dislocation of his left thumb when playing for Surrey against Lancashire at Old Trafford last Tuesday and is still waiting to find out whether the injury needs an operation that would rule him out of the tour.
Even if surgery is not required, the rehabilitation time may yet force England into withdrawing the 23-year-old from their plans, with the squad due to fly to the UAE on 30 September before the first of two warm-up fixtures with Pakistan A in Sharjah five days later.
The options for a replacement appear limited, with Lancashire’s Simon Kerrigan the only other English spinner to pass 40 championship wickets this season. The Surrey captain, Gareth Batty, has taken 38, including a hat-trick to confirm his side’s promotion from Division Two, although he turns 38 on the first day of the first Test in Abu Dhabi and has not played international cricket for six years.
Seven of England’s winter Test squad will prepare for the tour by playing for their counties in the final round of championship fixtures that begin on Tuesday, with the Test captain Alastair Cook in line to face Jimmy Anderson when Essex host Lancashire at Chelmsford.
Stuart Broad is in the Nottinghamshire squad who host relegation-threatened Hampshire at Trent Bridge, while Ian Bell will play for Warwickshire at Somerset. Jonny Bairstow, Liam Plunkett and Adil Rashid all return for the champions, Yorkshire, against Sussex at Headingley.
There is no place for Eoin Morgan in the Middlesex squad who travel to play the already-relegated Worcestershire because of the concussion he sustained in England’s fifth one-day international against Australia on 13 September. While the left-hander is understood to be feeling better, he reported symptoms within a week of the fixture and was therefore made unavailable.
Despite not featuring in England’s Test plans, Morgan is likely to find himself the recipient of an England central contract, with the list of players to be offered deals for the 2015-16 period set to be signed off at Tuesday’s ECB board meeting.
Andrew Strauss, the director of England cricket, has stated his intention to raise the standing of international limited-overs cricket and while central contracts run along the lines of the Test squad, there is a strong case for Morgan, the one-day and Twenty20 captain, to be included.
