England’s seam options set to be stretched as Mark Wood and Steve Finn ruled out of winter tour of South Africa
England's seam bowling reserves are set to be tested on their winter tour of South Africa after pace duo Mark Wood and Steve Finn were both ruled out yesterday through injury.
Finn has failed to recover from the bone stress problem in his left foot that sidelined him for the Test series against Pakistan this autumn, which England lost 2-0.
Durham’s Wood missed the final Test of the tour with a long-standing ankle problem and is yet to find out whether he requires surgery, although all-rounder Ben Stokes has recovered from a collarbone injury and is available for selection.
The likes of Liam Plunkett, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan and Mark Footitt are options for the England selectors when the 17-man squad to tour South Africa is announced this morning.
England will play four Test matches, five one-day internationals and two Twenty20s on their tour of South Africa, which gets underway with a warm-up match on 15 December.