Injury rules Morgan out of Rest of World clash – but he will face Scotland

Eoin Morgan is expected to recover from a fractured finger in time to lead England in their first limited-overs assignment of the summer against Scotland.

The England captain has been ruled out of the Rest of the World XI’s one-off Twenty20 contest against West Indies at Lord’s tomorrow after chipping a bone in the end of his right ring finger.

It is understood the problem will sideline him for seven to 10 days, meaning he should feature in England’s one-day international against Scotland in Edinburgh on June 10.

The Scotland clash is followed by five ODIs against Australia next month.

Morgan’s county Middlesex confirmed he suffered the injury when he was fielding during the Royal London One-Day Cup match against Somerset on Sunday and added he would miss their fixtures against Hampshire and Surrey this week.

The left-handed batsman was set to captain the World XI in a game granted international status by the International Cricket Council, which is being held to raise funds for stadiums in Dominica and Anguilla damaged by hurricanes last year.

Andy Flower, the England and Wales Cricket Board’s stand-in director, said on the ICC’s official website: “It is not a bad crack but it is bad enough to keep him out of tomorrow’s Middlesex game and the World XI game.

“It is not a huge concern, it is one we can hopefully manage past in about a week.”

Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi will skipper the World XI in the absence of Morgan, who will be replaced in the line-up by England team-mate Sam Billings, with Surrey’s Sam Curran and Sussex’s Tymal Mills also added to the group.

Meanwhile the ICC Cricket Committee has recommended increased sanctions for ball-tampering and a new offence relating to personal abuse.

Both issues were to the fore in Australia’s Test tour of South Africa earlier this year, which ended with Australia captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner banned for a year and batsman Cameron Bancroft for nine months after the latter damaged the ball with sandpaper.

The series also saw an angry confrontation in a stairwell between Warner and South Africa wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock while Proteas bowler Kagiso Rabada was banned for a game – but reprieved on appeal – after a shoulder-bump on Smith took him over the ICC’s demerit points threshold.

The new offence of “personal, insulting, offensive or orchestrated abuse” could encompass many of the unsavoury aspects of the series, which also included Australia spinner Nathan Lyon dropping the ball on AB de Villiers while celebrating a run-out.

Committee chairman Anil Kumble said: “The group felt that excessive personal abuse and ball-tampering were serious offences in the game and that should be reflected in the way in which they are dealt with.”