Liam Plunkett has had a frustrating winter © Getty Images
Liam Plunkett‘s involvement in England’s one-day series in South Africa has been thrown into doubt by a thigh injury picked up while playing for England Lions in the UAE.
Plunkett picked up a “tight thigh” in a Lions warm-up match against a UAE XI ahead of their five-match ODI series against Pakistan A – enough to rule him out of the first tie on Wednesday.
It is only two days since Plunkett, was named as a replacement for Steven Finn in South Africa. He will now undergo a fitness test to ascertain whether he can play in the second match against Pakistan A on Friday.
The ECB has announced that his plans to fly to South Africa at the weekend have been “revised”.
Plunkett, who was a surprise omission from the squads originally named for the tour, last featured for England in their 3-0 Twenty20 series win over Pakistan before Christmas. He took three for 29 during the recent 50-over warm-up defeat to the United Arab Emirates at the ICC Academy.
England’s priority is that Finn recovers from a strained side in time for the World Twenty20 in India in March. He will miss the fourth Test at Centurion, which begins on Friday, as well as the five ODIs that follow, but he will remain in South Africa for warm-weather rehabilitation with the England medical staff.
Plunkett was one of the surprise omissions from England’s original ODI squad for South Africa – the start of a frustrating winter which has brought him long periods away from home with England and the Lions with very little cricket to show for it.
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo