England’s Ashes preparation has been rocked after spinner Jack Leach was ruled out of the series with a back stress fracture.

Leach claimed four scalps during England’s 10-wicket victory over Ireland at Lord’s this week, but developed low back symptoms during the match.

A subsequent scan on Sunday revealed a stress fracture in the lumbar region of the spine, which will rule him out of all five Ashes Tests.

“Spinner Jack Leach has been ruled out of the LV= Insurance men’s Ashes series with a low back (lumbar) stress fracture,” an England statement said.

“England will announce a replacement for the Ashes series in due course.”

Fran Jones’ hopes of making a first French Open appearance are over after she was forced to retire during her second qualifying round.

The Briton, who suffers from a congenital condition which means she has three fingers and a thumb on each hand, three toes on one foot and four toes on the other, was left in tears as she had to retire due to an apparent shoulder injury during the first set of her clash with Ylena In-Albon at Roland Garros.

Jones, currently ranked 316 in the world, had beaten former grand slam semi-finalist Coco Vandeweghe in her opening round and had enjoyed some encouraging results on the ITF circuit prior to the main clay-court in Paris.

She joins Heather Watson and Katie Swan in heading out of qualifying as the British pair lost in Tuesday’s first-round qualifying.

A host of other Brits are in action later on Tuesday as they hope to continue their journey towards the main draw.

James Anderson is ready to sit out England’s first Test of the summer against Ireland but is confident a groin strain picked up on county duty will not hold him back from next month’s Ashes opener.

The country’s record wicket-taker pulled up sore during day one of Lancashire’s LV= County Championship clash against Somerset last week and sat out the remainder of the clash.

His absence brought back memories of the 2019 series against Australia, when he battled back from a torn calf only to break down again on the first morning of the first Test and bring an early end to his summer.

Scans allayed the worst of those fears and even allowed the 40-year-old to appear in a 15-man squad for the one-off Lord’s Test against Ireland on June 1, but England may ultimately be happier to wrap their lead seamer in cotton wool ahead of the Ashes opener at Edgbaston two weeks later.

“I think I will be fit for the Ireland game. Whether I play or not is probably another matter really. I definitely don’t want to risk it,” he said, at an appearance for new England sponsors Radox.

“I am desperate to be fit for the first Ashes Test. If that means missing the Ireland Test, so be it.

“I feel good. I had a scan on the second day of that game – it was a little groin strain. It’s a 10-day recovery period, and I’m rehabbing already, running next week.

“It was the best result of a bad situation. That situation (in 2019) was a different injury, a more serious injury. I ripped my calf earlier that summer, and it was a real push to try to get fit for that first Test. I don’t feel like this is anywhere near that severity.”

Anderson was making his fourth appearance of the county season when he went down at Emirates Old Trafford, tuning up nicely with 16 wickets, and realised instantly he needed to withdraw.

“I was disappointed to have to pull out of a game but, with what’s to come in the summer, it was actually a pretty good result,” he said.

“It was weird how it worked out. The last ball of my spell I felt something not quite right. I came straight off, and then we came pretty much straight off for rain after that. I pulled up the next day and it wasn’t right. I went for a scan that night and it showed a strain, so there was no point risking it.”

Anderson’s likely absence against Ireland creates opportunities elsewhere, with the returning pace pair of Chris Woakes and Matthew Potts eager for action as they seek to force their way back in.

:: Anderson was speaking at a partnership launch announcing Radox as an official partner of England Cricket. Radox will be keeping cricketers and fans feeling refreshed this summer.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce has confirmed her withdrawal from the Kip Keino Classic on Saturday where she was down to compete in her first race of the season.

Sportsmax.TV reported earlier that reports from Kenya had indicated that the five-time world 100m champion and 2023 Laureus Sportswoman of the Year had suffered an injury in training and consequently withdrew from the meet.

The Jamaican track star has now confirmed the development on social media.

“Due to discomfort during my warm up, I am deeply disappointed that I will not be competing at the Jip Keino Classic and have departed Kenya to seek treatment,” she posted on Facebook.

“Special appreciation to the event organizers and the Kenyan community. Thank you for your prayers and continued support.”

Earlier reports said she has flown to Italy to seek specialized treatment.

This will be the second delay to the start of Fraser-Pryce’s season. In April, she announced her withdrawal from the Botswana Golden Grand Prix citing a “family emergency”.

Fulham midfielder Andreas Pereira has joined skipper Tim Ream in being ruled out for the rest of the season.

Sunday’s 2-1 home loss to Manchester City saw Ream forced off in the first half, with the defender having broken his arm, and Pereira then departed the field on a stretcher after the interval following a coming-together with Manuel Akanji.

Cottagers boss Marco Silva said post-match that Ream “is probably not playing any more” for the remainder of the campaign – something he confirmed at a press conference on Monday ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Liverpool, while also revealing the same applied to Pereira.

Silva said: “Tim Ream has broken his arm and will be out until the end of the season, and the situation of Andreas Pereira in terms of this season will be the same, he will play no more.

“We are waiting for more updates from the examinations, an MRI as well, and when we are going to be more sure about everything we are going to give more feedback, but both are not going to play more this season.”

Silva, who described the pair as “two big misses for us”, added: “When one player has broken his arm and one has a serious injury in his ankle, it’s not really a normal scenario, a normal thing. It was really an unlucky afternoon for us when these type of things happen.

“But we have to be ready, now is the moment for us to recover them really well, as fast as we can, and support them in everything we can, because they have been so, so important players for us this season.”

Fulham, whose top-scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic’s eight-match suspension still has two more games to go, have also had Willian absent for their last two outings.

The winger was a late withdrawal from the starting line-up ahead of the 1-0 loss at Aston Villa last Tuesday due to a hamstring issue.

Regarding that injury, Silva said: “Not really serious. We took a decision more as a precaution, to be honest. It was something that came from the last minutes of the Leeds match (the 2-1 win three days earlier). He felt it again during the warm-up and we decided not to take the risk.

“Of course there was a short time between the games, Villa and City. We took care of him, and we made some individual work to see if he would be ready or not.

“The day before the match we tried, he wasn’t feeling at the best level, not really confident, and we decided we wouldn’t start with him.

“Let’s see – we have another session tomorrow and we are going to assess him and after will decide. Probably I believe if not for tomorrow then he will be ready for the next match, against Leicester (at home next Monday).”

Fulham are currently 10th in the Premier League with five more games remaining, while Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, who extended their winning run to four matches with Sunday’s 4-3 victory over Tottenham, are fifth.

Injury has forced defending 400m champion out of the 2022 World Championships set to begin in Eugene, Oregon this coming weekend.

West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell appeared to have suffered a hamstring injury during the Kolkata Knight Riders’ two-wicket loss to the Chennai Super Kings in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

Hampered by a hamstring injury that prevented him from facing the starter in the 100m at the recently concluded Tokyo Olympics, Tyquendo Tracey has hailed the performances of his fellow Jamaican athletes.

Akeem Bloomfield has moved to allay fears that he had suffered a long-term injury when he fell during the 200m at last weekend’s Miramar South Florida Invitational.

Bloomfield, who is based in Florida at MVP International, stumbled and fell at the top of the straightway in the half-lap sprint and was seen clutching his leg while grimacing in pain. He was eventually helped off the track, triggering fears that he would have been out for some time, perhaps for the remainder of the season.

With the Jamaican Olympic trials coming up in June, there were even fears that he would not be able to compete and try to book a spot in the country’s contingent for the summer Olympics in Tokyo.

However, after an MRI examination, the 200/400m athlete posted some encouraging words on Instagram that would have his many fans breathing a collective sigh of relief.

“It did look like a bad injury on TV but the MRI results showed that there was no major tear or damage,” a relieved Bloomfield posted on Instagram.

Notwithstanding the good news, Bloomfield revealed that he is still in some amount of discomfort.

“My right glute and hamstring contracted really bad and as of right now are just really inflamed,” he said.

“I am expected to make a full recovery and hopefully I will be back in training soon.

“Again, thanks to everyone who took the time to reach out. The support means a lot.”