MANCHESTER, July 30: Embattled England wicket-keeper Geraint Jones is a doubtful starter for the third Test against Pakistan which begins from Friday at Headingley.

Jones fractured the top of his right ring finger on Friday.

Under increasing pressure in the media after poor form with the bat, Jones will not want to surrender his hold on the gloves with the Ashes fast approaching.

What is likely is that England's selectors will give him as much time as possible to prove his finger can stand up to a five-day Test by naming Chris Read in the squad as cover.

Injury or no injury, the selectors will face more calls to replace Jones after another batting failure which took his aggregate of runs to 91 from his last ten innings. He has the lowest batting average of any wicket-keeper in the eight leading Test-playing countries.—Agencies