England fear over Moeen

ENGLAND are concerned by an injury to Moeen Ali’s spinning finger after he bowled only 11 overs on the third day of the first Test at the Gabba.

Moeen, who finished with figures of two for 74 in Australia’s first-innings 328, suffered a nasty cut to the middle finger of his right hand. The seam of the Kookaburra ball may be less prominent than the Dukes used in England, but it is sharper — and Moeen’s case was not helped by coming on to bowl when it was only eight overs old on the second afternoon.

He left the field for repairs on the third, when he bowled just four overs between lunch and tea amid speculation that he might have exacerbated the side strain that limited him to just a single warm-up match. Captain Joe Root ended up chipping in with 4.3 overs of off-breaks, collecting the wic wicket of Australia’s

N No 11 Nathan Lyon.