Morgan to lead against Australia and Scotland

Finger injury forces England batsman to skip World XI game

England’s limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan has been included in the One Day International (ODI) squad to face Australia and Scotland despite suffering a finger injury, the England and Wales Cricket Board said yesterday.

Morgan fractured the ring finger on his right hand while fielding against Somerset in a Royal London One-Day Cup match and will not play for the World XI in today’s charity Twenty20 game against the West Indies at Lord’s.

But the 31-year-old is expected to regain full fitness ahead of England’s one-off encounter with Scotland on June 10 before they face Australia three days later.

Confident of return

Morgan is confident of returning to take on Australia. “It’s not a huge concern, it’s one that hopefully we can manage past about a week when the swelling goes down,” Morgan said.

“It’s not fractured into the joint, which is a really good result. I’ll be fine for the onedayers.

“I will hopefully be back

for one more Middlesex game, potentially two. We will wait and see,” he added.

England have rested wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler for the match in Edinburgh, with Sam Billings drafted in as replacement in the 13-man squad. Buttler and pace bowler Tom Curran will return to a 14-man squad for the fivematch series against Australia starting on June 13, while Billings drops out.

Limited-overs specialist Alex Hales and Adil Rashid have been selected in the two squads alongside all-rounder Moeen Ali, who was dropped from England’s Test side during the tour to New Zealand in March.

England, who are No. 1 in the ODI world rankings, beat hosts Australia 4-1 in a fivematch series in January.