England fast bowler Jofra Archer will miss the rest of the season after suffering a stress fracture in his lower back.
Paceman Archer has not played for England since March 2021, in a T20I against India in Ahmedabad.
The 27-year-old has only featured four times since for his county Sussex, last playing in July last year.
He underwent surgery in May on a long-standing elbow problem, and needed a second operation to try and fix the issue in December, having missed the T20 World Cup and the Ashes.
That was expected to keep him out until June, though Archer had hoped to return to action for Sussex in the T20 Blast later this month. However, he failed to feature in second-team warm-up matches and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has now confirmed the seamer is facing another long spell on the sidelines.
"After being diagnosed with a stress fracture to the lower back, England and Sussex seamer Jofra Archer has been ruled out for the rest of the season," a statement from the ECB read.
"No timeframe has been set for his return. A management plan will be determined following further specialist opinion over the coming days."
News of Archer's injury is a fresh blow for England, who are without a host of fast bowlers for the first Test against New Zealand in June.
Ben Stokes, who has replaced Joe Root as captain, is unable to call on Chris Woakes, Ollie Robinson, Sam Curran, Mark Wood, Olly Stone, Matthew Fisher or Saqib Mahmood, who like Archer has a stress fracture in his lower back and will not play again this season.
Dr. Donovan Bennett defeats Billy Heaven in JCA Presidential election
Dr. Donovan Bennett is the new president of the Jamaica Cricket Association after defeating Wilford ‘Billy’ Heaven at Thursday’s elections at the 20th JCA Annual General Meeting held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston.
Bennett, who served as JCA vice-president for 11 years, is set for his first term at the helm after a 67-30 victory.
Heaven served as JCA president for the last 10 years and was seeking a fifth term.
New Zealand take unassailable series lead after hard-fought victory over Pakistan
Pakistan slumped to a four-run defeat at the hands of New Zealand despite the efforts of Abbas Afridi and Fakhar Zaman.
The Black Caps took an unassailable 2-1 lead in the five-match T20I series, thanks in the main to Tim Robinson (51) and bowling duo William O'Rourke (3-27) and Ben Sears (2-27) on Thursday.
Set a target of 179 to win, Pakistan looked on their way to victory when Fakhar Zaman got going, but he was eventually dismissed on 61 by Sears.
Abbas took three wickets in New Zealand's innings, yet he could only contribute a single run to Pakistan's cause as the hosts fell just short in Lahore.
Data Debrief
Shadab Khan did not bowl a single delivery for Pakistan, which is the first time that has happened in a completed T20I innings.
He did take an exceptional catch to dismiss Mark Chapman, but it was not enough to inspire Pakistan.
IPL: Kohli and Patidar star to snap RCB's losing streak
Royal Challengers Bengaluru ended a six-match losing streak in the Indian Premier League by claiming a convincing 35-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Bengaluru still sit bottom of the standings, but have reason to cheer after Virat Kohli's 51 and Rajat Patidar's 20-ball 50 got the job done in style on Thursday.
Cameron Green chipped in with a useful 37 as RCB reached 206-7 from their 20 overs, and the Australian then took 2-12 with the ball as the Sunrisers failed to get going.
Shahbaz Ahmed top scored for Sunrisers with 40 not-out, but it was not enough as they only mustered 171-8 in response.
Data Debrief
Thursday's match marked Jaydev Unadkat's 100th in the IPL, and though he finished on the losing side, he did take a memorable three-for to celebrate the occasion.
It was Unadkat who dismissed Kohli, Patidar and Mahipal Lomror, finishing with figures of 3-30.
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