Ollie Robinson is set to undergo a scan on a sore left ankle on Monday as the seamer became the latest injury worry for England ahead of a Test against Ireland and the Ashes this summer.
Concerns were raised when Robinson remained off the field as Sussex took the second new ball on day three of their LV= Insurance County Championship Division Two match against Glamorgan at Hove.
Robinson headed for the pavilion before lunch, having bowled an eight-over spell in the morning session – despite already feeling some discomfort at the base of his lower leg the previous evening.
Sussex head coach Paul Farbrace revealed they had been coordinating with England to use Robinson for one stint on Saturday morning before withdrawing him as a preventative measure for the rest of the day.
The former England assistant coach said: “Ollie has a sore left ankle and he will be scanned on Monday to see how bad he is. We knew it was sore (on Friday).
“We got one spell out of him this morning and he tried his hardest. It was a long spell and he got stuck in. He knew it would be one spell and one spell only and then he was off, that was it for the day.
“It was precautionary. There was no point in making it worse. It’s walking more than the running in. He was all right running in down the slope. It’s a joint decision between the Sussex medical team and the England medical team.
“(As) much as we want him out there bowling and taking wickets it’s not fair on him to make the injury worse, so there was good conversation last night and again this morning.”
Robinson, who revealed he had a pain-killing injection in his back before the start of the domestic campaign, took career-best match figures of 14 for 117 for Sussex at Worcestershire this month.
The 29-year-old was included in England’s 15-strong squad to face Ireland at Lord’s from June 1-4 but is now a doubt for the one-off Test and more troublingly for the five-match series against Australia.
Jofra Archer was this week ruled out for the summer because of a recurrence of a stress fracture in his right elbow while fellow quick Olly Stone is currently sidelined with a hamstring problem.
James Anderson’s minor groin strain looks set to keep him out of the Ireland clash in a bid to be fit for the Ashes, with England captain Ben Stokes wanting at least eight fit fast bowlers to call upon, all of whom can be rotated to share the burden with five Tests in the space of six and a half weeks.
Johnson five-for leads Australia to series win over Pakistan
Spencer Johnson's first five-for in T20Is led Australia to a hard-fought victory over Pakistan in Sydney, clinching a series success with a match to spare.
Johnson took the wickets of Mohammad Rizwan (16), Sahibzada Farhan (5), Usman Khan (52), Salman Agha (0) and Abbas Afridi (4) as Australia followed up their 29-run win in Thursday's rain-affected opener.
The momentum swung back and forth as both teams' batters struggled on a difficult surface, with Haris Rauf finishing with figures of 4-22 for Pakistan.
No Australia batter managed more than the 32 runs of opener Matthew Short, and they found themselves bundled out for 149, losing their last five wickets for just 53 runs.
However, Pakistan were dropped to 44-4 by the middle of their ninth over, with Johnson clearing up the tourists' captain Rizwan and vice-captain Salman with successive deliveries.
Usman's fine knock of 52 off 38 balls – including four fours and one maximum – dragged Pakistan back into contention, but he was beaten by the pace of another Johnson delivery with four overs remaining.
Pakistan ultimately needed 16 runs off the final over to level up the series, but their hopes were ended when Rauf was run out following a calamitous mix-up with Irfan Khan (37 not out), which saw both batters almost finish at the bowler's end.
Data Debrief: Australia on a roll
Australia entered this series having won just one of their last four bilateral T20I series against Pakistan, triumphing 2-0 in 2019 but losing the other three.
Regardless of the outcome of Monday's third match in Tasmania, the hosts have backed up that triumph, extending their unbeaten run across all men's T20I series to five (four wins, one draw).
They last enjoyed a streak of this length between November 2018 and February 2020 (also four wins, one draw).
Salt century gives England winning start to West Indies T20 series
Phil Salt hit a superb century as England drew first blood in their T20 series against West Indies, with a commanding eight-wicket victory at the Kensington Oval.
Salt's unbeaten 103 off 54 balls was the highlight for the tourists, who successfully chased down their target of 183 with 19 balls to spare.
The West Indies endured a difficult start and were reduced to 18-3 and later 117-8, with Saqib Mahmood (4-34) and Adil Rashid (3-32) doing the damage.
However, the hosts managed 65 runs in the last 5.2 overs to finish at 182-8, with Gukadesh Motie knocking 33 off 14 balls along the way.
Salt kick-started England's chase with 50 off just 25 deliveries taking them to 73-1 after six overs, with Will Jacks (17) dismissed with the final ball of the powerplay.
Jos Buttler's first match after four months out lasted just three minutes, as the skipper was caught by Motie for a golden duck.
However, it proved a false dawn for West Indies, with Salt and Jacob Bethall (58 from 36 balls) safely steering England to victory.
Data Debrief: Salt completes hat-trick of hundreds as Bethell makes historic half-century
England put their disappointing ODI series behind them, making history with the highest T20 chase at the Kensington Oval.
Salt was the hero with his third T20I century, all of which have come against West Indies in the past 12 months.
Bethell also made history on Saturday. Aged 21 years and 17 days, he become the youngest England player to score a 50 in a T20I.
Asalanka leads Sri Lanka to ODI series win over West Indies
Sri Lanka wrapped up the ODI series against the West Indies with a five-wicket victory in Pallekele.
The hosts successfully chased down their opponents' total of 189, giving them an unassailable 2-0 in the three-match series.
Sri Lanka controlled the early powerplay - Asitha Fernando (3-35) and Maheesh Theekshana (3-25) took two wickets apiece to leave the tourists at 31-4 in the ninth over.
Wanindu Hasaranga (4-40) then claimed three of his four wickets as Roston Chase, Romario Shepherd, Hayden Walsh and Alzarri Joseph were all dismissed in the space of 14 balls.
However, Sherfane Rutherford (80 off 82 balls) and Gudakesh Motie (50 not out) steadied the ship to take the Windies from 58-8 to 189.
Although Joseph claimed Avishka Fernando (9) in the fourth over, Nishan Madushka and Sadeera Samarawickrama both chipped in with contributions of 38 to get the hosts to 112-4.
Skipper Charith Asalanka (62 not out) led the charge thereon, while Kamindu Mendis (11) comfortably got them over the line with 34 balls remaining.
Data Debrief: Rutherford-Motie historic stand proves academic for tourists
West Indies were looking to level the series, but their hopes were not aided by Sri Lanka's impressive bowling.
Rutherford and Motie did their best. Their partnership brought 119 runs, which is their nation's highest ninth-wicket stand in ODI history, breaking the previous record of 85 between Yannic Cariah and Alzarri Joseph.
However, it ultimately proved in vain as the hosts secured the series with a game to spare.
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