Blow for England as knee injury rules Steven Finn out of the Ashes series

Blow | Finn will miss the entire series
Getty Images
Chris Stocks7 November 2017

England have confirmed Steven Finn is leaving Australia after he was ruled out of the Ashes series with a torn cartilage in his left knee.

The Middlesex bowler will see a specialist on his return to the UK and is likely to require surgery on the freak injury he sustained batting in the nets last week.

He will be replaced in the squad by one of Liam Plunkett, Tom Helm, the 23-year-old Middlesex seamer, or Surrey’s Tom Curran, all of whom are being discussed by team management in Australia.

Finn had himself only been drafted into England’s Ashes squad as a late replacement for Ben Stokes, who has not travelled while police continue their investigations into his late-night fight in Bristol during September’s one-day series against West Indies.

But the 28-year-old’s third Ashes tour has lasted just nine days following the bizarre incident that saw him accidently hit his knee with his own bat during a net session in Perth last Thursday.

England had given Finn a week to prove his fitness after initial scans proved inconclusive.

However, despite receiving anti-inflammatory injections into the joint, further scans revealed a more serious problem.

This is another setback in Finn’s career after he was sent home early from the 2013-14 Ashes tour when he was deemed “unselectable” by then limited-overs coach Ashley Giles.

An England statement said: “Steven Finn will miss the remainder of England’s tour of Australia after scans revealed he has a torn left knee cartilage.

“The Middlesex seamer will now return to the UK in the next 48 hours where he will meet a knee specialist to ascertain whether he will have an operation. England will announce his replacement for the rest of the tour in due course.”

Meanwhile, coach Trevor Bayliss has confirmed England will name a vice-captain to replace Stokes, the incumbent, on this tour within the next 48 hours.

Alastair Cook, who current captain Joe Root replaced earlier this year, Stuart Broad and James Anderson are all in contention for the role.

“Rooty and I have had a bit of a chat about it over the last few days, and you'll probably see an announcement in the next day or two,” said Bayliss.

“There’s probably three or four guys in the team that could do it - older guys who play that role anyway as leaders of the team.”

Standard Sport also understands reports in Australia that the England & Wales Cricket Board are about to begin disciplinary action against Stokes are incorrect.

Sydney’s Daily Telegraph today claimed the ECB were planning on taking action on Stokes “as early as tomorrow”. But it is understood that report is premature and the ECB will not make any further decisions on Stokes until the police have concluded their criminal investigation into the all-rounder.

Bayliss said: “There’s two sides to it, the police investigation and also the disciplinary commission the ECB has put together. From that point of view, he was still out late at night when maybe he shouldn’t have been. There’s still that issue to clear up.”

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