MORGAN COMEBACK ON HOLD

EOIN MORGAN’S return to first-class cricket after a three-year absence has been delayed due to a fractured thumb. England’s limited-overs captain had declared himself available for Middlesex for the first two months of the 2018 County Championship. The 31-year-old has not played a fourday match since making a pair against Somerset at Merchant Taylor’s School in July 2015. But he now faces up to six weeks out after suffering the break in a net session last Thursday. ‘Eoin was hit on the left thumb and X-rays revealed he suffered a small fracture. He will sadly be out of action for at least four weeks,’ said a Middlesex spokesman.