Adair in some discomfort and still a doubt: Ford

MARK Adair remains a major doubt for next week’s one-day internationals against England after missing the intra-squad game in Southampton on Wednesday.

The CIYMS all-rounder had surgery on his ankle over the winter and it was hoped that had cured what has been a persistent problem for him.

But as head coach Graham Ford said yesterday, in a press conference ahead of the final warm-up game against the England Lions tomorrow, he remains a concern and a “bit of a mystery”.

Ford added: “We hoped he would come here firing on all cylinders but he is still experiencing some discomfort and until now hasn’t been able to bowl with full intensity. We are fortunate to have the team doctor here, he is the surgeon who operated on him, so he is doing his best to get him back but we are taking it one day at a time.”

The other player who sat out Wednesday’s game in the Ageas Bowl, the venue for the ODIS, the first on Thursday, is Paul Stirling but Ford explained that was more of a precaution.

“He has a calf niggle, which he has a history of, and he aggravated it in the first training session so it would have been silly to risk him,” said the coach.

“He is making good progress and had a net session on Thursday which was a recovery day and today, so I’m very hopeful he will be fine going forward. We definitely want him to play on Sunday but we won’t take any unnecessary risk. He is just so important to us. We’ll monitor it over the next two days.”

Scores in yesterday’s NCU intra-squad pathway game

Shaw’s Bridge: Team A 170-4 (G Thompson 45 not out, R Pretorius 40, CJ van der Walt 31 not out, M Ellison 28) Team B 158-5 (R Adair 89, N Rock 25; R Pretorius 2-21, J Mulder 2-31). Team A won by 12 runs.