Somerset Cricket's Jack Leach and Tom Abell sidelined
The side start the County Championship season tomorrow
Last updated 4th Apr 2024
Somerset Cricket's Jack Leach is going to be out of action from the game until May - whilst Tom Abell is also being sidelined because of a pre-season injury.
It could mean team-mate 20-year-old Shoaib Bashir gets the chance to establish himself as England's number one spinner, after he made his international debut back in February.
32-year-old Leach suffered a knee injury during England's first Test victory over India - and was ruled out for the rest of the series.
Off-spinner Bashir played three of the last four Tests and shone with 17 wickets at average of 33.35.
Bashir, who is part of Somerset's squad for tomorrow's opener away at Kent, made an impression with the international squad - despite all four matches ending in defeat for England.
Also out is Tom Abell after picking up a pre-season injury.
Head Coach, Jason Kerr, said: “Unfortunately, as many people would have seen earlier in the week, Tom picked up an injury whilst batting against University of Exeter in our pre-season match. He felt some discomfort whilst running between the wickets, so he came off the field immediately as a precaution.
“He has since had a scan and that has confirmed that there is a tear in the hamstring. At present we’re not quite able to determine the extent of the tear so it’s difficult to put a timeframe on it but we will certainly be looking at a few weeks.
“He will be working closely with our Science & Medicine Team to plan and activate a recuperation and rehabilitation schedule to ensure that he is fully fit before returning to First Team action.
“Obviously, it’s disappointing and frustrating for Tom and we’ll be doing everything that we can to support him through his recovery.”
England play their first Test of the summer against the West Indies at Lord's on July 10.