JOHANNESBURG, Jan 10: England batsman Mark Butcher's tour to South Africa ended on Monday when he was ruled out because of a wrist injury. "The wrist has just got worse and worse.

I had a net (session) this morning but I was unable to wield the bat or hit anything except tennis balls," said Butcher, who was plagued by various injuries last year. "I was pretty despondent last summer but this is much worse because I thought I was finally over all my injury problems."

Warwickshire's Ian Bell will replace Butcher for the rest of the tour. Butcher played in the first two tests of the series, scoring 79 in the first innings in the first test in Port Elizabeth but failed in both innings during the second test in Durban.

"Mark will see a specialist in Johannesburg and fly home in the next few days," England media manager Dave Clarke told reporters. The Surrey batsman was replaced by Robert Key for the third test in Cape Town which England lost by 196 runs. The fourth test at the Wanderers in Johannesburg begins on Thursday. -Reuters