England are confident Eoin Morgan, their captain, will be fit for the opening match of the World Cup against South Africa next week despite fracturing and dislocating a finger.
The World Cup hosts were given a major injury scare just six days before the start of the tournament when Morgan took a blow to his left index finger while practising slip catching from a bowling machine before Saturday’s World Cup warm-up match against Australia at the Ageas Bowl.
England sent him for an x-ray Friday afternoon and, although the results later confirmed a “small flake fracture” that will rule him out of the game against Australia, he is hopeful of being fit for the opening match of the tournament at the Oval on Thursday.
Speaking to his former Ireland team-mate Niall O’Brien on a video released on the International Cricket Council’s official World Cup Twitter feed, Dublin-born Morgan, who played 23 ODIs for Ireland before qualifying for England in 2009, said: “The digit is the best I could have hoped. I dropped a catch at training and dislocated it and there’s a very small fracture in there. But I’m good to go. I’m going to miss the game tomorrow unfortunately but as regards the first game of the tournament I should be fit to go. It’s very good news. I was delighted.”
An ECB statement had earlier not mentioned the dislocation to Morgan’s finger, only the fracture. It read: “England captain Eoin Morgan has sustained a small flake fracture to his left index finger. He will not take part in the [Australia] match but is expected to make a full recovery and be available for England’s opening World Cup match against South Africa.”
In Morgan’s absence Jos Buttler, England’s vice-captain across all formats, will lead the team on Saturday.
England were always privately confident Morgan had not sustained serious injury. The fact he was not immediately rushed to hospital and was seen in the team canteen looking upbeat suggested there was no major issue.
Morgan, a left-handed batsman, fractured his right ring finger last summer fielding for Middlesex and was back playing in 10 days. This injury could have been far more problematic, though, given it involves the index finger on his dominant batting hand.
Any major injury would have been a huge blow to England on the eve of the tournament. Even though this appears a far less serious problem than some feared – in layman’s terms it is a small fracture where the ligaments attach to the bone – it is still an unwelcome distraction for England before the tournament.
Morgan’s influence on the field and in the dressing-room is virtually irreplaceable given he has been the driving force behind the team’s transformation from World Cup also-rans four years ago to No 1 in the world and favourites for this year’s tournament.
Brad Haddin, Australia’s assistant coach, believes Morgan will do whatever is necessary to battle through any discomfort during the tournament. “It’s a World Cup. You do what you have to do,” he said.
“There are things you can use these days to numb the pain so I hope he’s all right. I think the thing with a broken finger is that it hurts a lot in the nets but once you get out in the game with the adrenaline going it’s not too much of an issue normally.”
Meanwhile England have confirmed Adil Rashid will miss the Australia match to rest the right shoulder injury that flared up during the recent one-day series against Pakistan.
It gives Liam Dawson, the left-arm spinner who was a surprise call-up for the World Cup this week having not been named in the original 15-man squad, the chance to play for England for the first time since the tour of Sri Lanka last October. The match against Australia will not have ODI status and England and Australia are both fielding 12-men teams. Joe Root will play despite missing training to return home. England’s Test captain was scheduled to rejoin his team-mates in Southampton on Friday night.
This match will also see the return of David Warner and Steve Smith for the first time in front of a major English crowd since they served their 12-month bans for ball-tampering during last year’s Cape Town Test against South Africa.
The pair played in a low-key practice match against West Indies in front of a handful of spectators on the Ageas Bowl nursery ground on Wednesday. But they should expect an altogether different experience in front of an estimated 10,000 fans today.
“I’d be disappointed if the England crowd weren’t involved in the game,” said Haddin. “One of the pleasures I had in my career was the theatre of touring England and when the Barmy Army come out to Australia and what it brings to the game.”
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...ospital-x-ray-injured-finger-training-cricket
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">�� "The digit is the best I could have hoped"<a href="https://twitter.com/Eoin16?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Eoin16</a> puts a nation's fears to rest and confirms that he will be right for the opening match of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CWC19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CWC19</a> despite suffering a dislocated and minor finger fracture at training. <a href="https://t.co/PYx5qSYtC4">pic.twitter.com/PYx5qSYtC4</a></p>— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) <a href="https://twitter.com/cricketworldcup/status/1131973692064444417?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 24, 2019</a></blockquote>
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England to go all the way!
