BARE BONES
Ball off injured, Collingwood (aged 41) on as sub. England are down to the…
IT SAYS everything about the state of England at this early stage of the Ashes tour that they were forced to turn to 41- year- old assistant coach Paul Collingwood as a fielding substitute midway through their latest worrying day.
England had suffered another injury concern when Jake Ball, who had emerged as favourite for the vacant first Test seam-bowling slot, damaged his ankle on the second day of their second warm-up against a Cricket Australia XI.
And with Steven Finn returning home after the premature end to his tour and his replacement Tom Curran yet to arrive here, England are already looking frighteningly close to the bare bones.
It is not quite as bad as when then physio Dave Roberts had to field for England because of injuries during the 1994-95 Ashes and promptly broke a finger, but it is hardly an ideal situation.
There were mitigating circumstances as Stuart Broad has been given this match off and it was felt Ben Foakes was better off continuing to work in the nets rather than carry out 12th-man duties.
And Collingwood ( below) hardly the worst fielding choice for one over as he is captain of Durham and scored more than 1,000 runs last season.
‘We’re not surprised he came on because he’s still fit as a fiddle,’ said Chris Woakes. ‘ Someone said Mason Crane’s dad had come on to field for us!’
Yet Eng l and could not have is imagined it would get this bad so soon, with the nagging concern that their bad fortune seems to be escalating with the first Ashes Test in less than a fortnight. The tour started under a huge cloud with the absence of Ben Stokes and with Mark Wood and Toby Roland- Jones not fit to travel. And with the departure of Finn and an injury worry over Moeen Ali, there is no sign yet of a clear blue sky. Ball might not have done too much damage when his ankle buckled in his fourth over yesterday but, with the initial diagnosis a sprain, he must be considered a doubt. That would be cruel on the Nottinghamshire bowler who had made an impressive start to this tour in the first warmup and who had edged ahead of Craig Overton for the slot left empty by Stokes. ‘ To see a fellow fast bowler go off in that way was frustrating but we have to deal with it,’ said Woakes. ‘We’ve still got a great unit and we can still cause problems.’
Overton was the favourite to try to fill the shoes of Stokes, as much for his batting ability as his potential with the ball, but Ball did much to overtake him against Western Australia and just needed another decent display here.
Instead, after taking an early wicket with a rare bad ball as the Cricket Australia XI replied to England’s disappointing 293 all out, Ball’s ankle buckled and he went down in a heap on what passes for a square in this allpurpose stadium.
Physio Craig de Weymarn gave Ball treatment on the field before he was able, at least, to walk off unaided and he was due to be assessed again last night before England decide what to do next.
Ball will have to be fit to bowl in next week’s final warm-up if he is to be considered for the the first Test and in the short term Overton is back in the frame for a Test baptism of fire on November 23.
If the worst happens and another replacement is needed then the same suspects as when Finn ruptured his knee — Wood, Tom Helm and George Garton — will be considered but probably not, surprisingly, Liam Plunkett. Trevor Bayliss is believed to want to keep Plunkett as a white-ball specialist.
With Ball out of action all eyes turned on Overton during Cricket Australia’s innings where the Somerset man’s fortunes were mixed. He did take the wicket of Jake Carder but also suffered when Simon Milenko hit him for 19 off one over.
More encouraging was another assured performance from Jimmy Anderson, and Woakes looked more like his old self after last summer’s serious side injury.
Crane, meanwhile, bowled Will Pucovski with a beauty and took two late wickets before the home side cheekily declared on 233 for nine, 60 behind.
England extended that by five without loss by the close with two days left, with Alastair Cook, who needs some time in the middle, surviving a couple of anxious moments.