No port of call for Jamie Down Under after injury
JAMIE Porter will miss the England Lions tour to Australia, withdrawing from the squad due to a stress fracture in his back.
The Essex seamer was the leading wicket-taker in the County Championship this season, claiming 75 scalps across the summer.
Porter, 24, could return for the Lions trip to the West Indies, which starts in January, though his place in the squad to head Down Under has been filled by Worcestershire seam bowler Josh Tongue.
Porter will, however, take a spot in the England and Wales Cricket Board’s Pace Programme, which starts on October 30, as he attempts to rebuild fitness.
Porter said: “I’m extremely gutted to be missing Australia, but at the same time grateful to the ECB for giving me all the support and allowing me the opportunity to work hard and get myself fit for the West Indies tour which I am very confident I will do. This is a minor setback and I know I’m going to do everything I possibly can to be fully fit in January.”
Porter also picked up the PCA Young Player of the Year, and the same award from the Cricket Writers’ Club after a phenomenal season.
He was also a key part of the Essex squad that won their first County Championship title since 1992.
England selector James Whitaker said: “We have agreed with him and with Essex that this new approach is the best option.
“Spending the first half of the winter on the Pace Programme will allow him to take a break from competitive cricket after two excellent and demanding seasons for Essex, allowing the injury to recover, and for a focus on his rehabilitation.”
Tongue played a major role in Worcestershire’s Division Two promotion campaign, claiming 47 wickets, and the 19-year-old can’t wait to get going Down Under.
Tongue said: “I wasn’t expecting to play as many games as I have this season and getting promoted is a massive achievement for me as well.
“It is one of the things I wanted to do in my career as well – to win a Championship. When I started out as a young lad, you want to play and win things.
“I was on the pace bowling programme, but now being selected for the Lions this winter I can’t wait to start that. It’s an amazing feeling.
“Andy Flower rang me and said they had an injury in the Lions squad and wanted to choose me as a replacement.
“A lot of the squad play in Division One and it will be good to talk to some of the other bowlers who have been playing Championship cricket for two or three years and pick their brains.
“Have I got ambitions to play for England one day? That has been my goal ever since I was really young.
“The Lions is one further step on the pathway towards that, but I know there is a lot of hard work to be done and much to learn.”
Whitaker added: “He is another exciting, young fast bowler who made a major contribution to Worcestershire’s promotion campaign and we believe he will benefit from the chance to work with the Lions and to spend some time in Australia in an Ashes winter.”