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| Steven Finn's tour has been brought to an abrupt end |
Steven Finn has been ruled out of the remainder of England's tour of
the UAE due to the stress injury in his left foot which ended his hopes of
making the opening encounter in Abu Dhabi.
Finn will be replaced in the Test
and one-day squads by Chris Jordan, the Sussex allrounder, who played the last of
his eight Tests against West Indies in Barbados in April. Finn was not part of
the T20 squad while Jordan was already in the group.
England depart for South Africa, a
tour where Finn's natural attributes will come into their own, in early December
so he has two months to regain fitness which is around the timeframe for these
types of injuries so it could be touch-and-go whether he makes the warm-up
matches.
It is a cruel blow for Finn who
made a triumphant return to the Test side during the Ashes, 18 months after his
career was left in doubt when he was deemed unselectable in Australia and sent
home.
Finn claimed 6 for 79 on his
comeback at Edgbaston to help England level the series and played the remainder
of the series, while he has also emerged as the senior man in the limited-overs
side since James Anderson and Stuart Broad were left out of the white-ball
teams.
Ben Stokes said the team were
heartbroken for Finn and had expected him to play a part in the series against
Pakistan.
"Since's he's come back into
the team this summer he's been the leader in one-day cricket then when he came
into the Ashes he blew away Australia," Stokes said. "He's started
off well here so for the lads who have seen him progress so well from Australia
it's pretty heartbreaking. The other seam bowlers who aren't in this game could
have a role to play, I think he would have been one of the first names in the
hat so it's not great timing. I feel pretty sorry for him."
Finn had put himself in contention
for a place in the starting XI in Abu Dhabi by taking 4 for 16 from 15 overs in
the second two-day match against Pakistan A in Sharjah. He reported soreness in
his foot after that match and although he bowled two days out from the Test the
pain worsened.
On the
morning of the Test he was wearing a moonboot and hobbling around on crutches
which was a clear indication that the prognosis was not good.
Finn tweeted a picture of himself
using the crutches and wrote: "Gutted to be heading home from this UAE
tour. Going to have to get better at using these things, blooming hard
work!"
Jordan, who somewhat curiously was
due to part of the England Performance Programme batting/spin camp in Dubai
next month, was part of the Test squad for the series against New Zealand
earlier this year before sustaining a side injury during the one-day series
which ruled him out of contention for the Ashes.
He returned to action midway
through August and claimed 18 wickets in the final four Championship matches of
the season although could not help Sussex avoid relegation.
In his eight Tests he has taken 21
wickets at 35.80 and scored 180 runs 18.00, although his most notable
contributions have often been his stunning slip catch - especially against the
spinners - which could well work in his favour given England's missed chances
on the opening in Abu Dhabi when Ian Bell spilled two catches at second slip.
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