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| February 25, 2006 | Saturday | Muharram 26, 1427 |
Cook and Anderson on standby
LONDON, Feb 24: Essex opener Alastair Cook and Lancashire paceman James Anderson are on standby to join England’s Test squad in India with captain Michael Vaughan among several players injured.
Cook and Anderson were withdrawn from the England A squad during the firstTtest against the West Indies A in Antigua and are to fly back to Britain, the England Cricket Board said on Friday.
Vaughan has a recurrence of a knee injury, allrounder Paul Collingwood has hurt his back and paceman Simon Jones a virus.
Kevin Pietersen, who started England’s game against the President’s XI in Baroda, was forced to retire hurt on Thursday with a sore back. Liam Plunkett was unable to bowl on Friday due to a bruised heel.
Earlier, tourists claimed that they will not be asking for immediate reinforcements ahead of next week’s Test series against India despite the 16-man touring squad being wrecked with injuries and illness.
Captain Michael Vaughan was given a cortisone injection to speed up the recovery of a recurring knee injury in time for the first of three back-to-back Tests starting in Nagpur on March 1.
Star batsman Kevin Pietersen is suffering from a back strain, fast bowler Simon Jones and off-spinner Shaun Udal are recovering from stomach bugs and all-rounder Paul Collingwood has been afflicted with a back spasm.
With just five days to go for the first Test, England are in danger of not being able to field 11 fit men, but coach Duncan Fletcher refused to panic.
“We can’t make a decision over replacements just yet, we have to give it some more time,” Fletcher said on Friday.
“Simon Jones could wake up and be fine in two days, while if the injection works, Vaughan could be alright by next week. We’ll just have to fiddle things about for the moment.”
Vaughan remains in serious doubt for the first Test, just as he was in Pakistan late last year when the knee injury flared up in a practice match at the start of the tour.
The England captain missed the one-dayers in Pakistan to have his third surgery in six years on his right knee in December.
The 31-year-old was forced to sit out of the ongoing three-day match against the Indian Board President’s XI here and team doctor Peter Gregory hoped the cortisone injection will work wonders.
—Agencies
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