Steven Finn has two days to save his Ashes tour as he continues to struggle with a knee injury.
Finn, who sustained the injury while batting in the nets in Perth last week, was given an injection a couple of days ago but has not made the progress the England management hoped. A decision will be made on his involvement in the rest of the tour in the next 48 hours.
“The medical people think within the next couple of days we’ll know whether it’s going to come good or whether it needs something doing to it,” Trevor Bayliss, the England head coach, said ahead of training in Adelaide. “He had an injection a couple of days ago which they thought would help. So, it’s just a matter of time to let that take effect [and] then make a decision in the next couple of days.”
While no decision has yet been made about possible replacements, Tom Curran, Tom Helm and Liam Plunkett would appear to be the favourites for a call-up. Neither Helm or Curran have played Test cricket, though Helm was named in the Lions squad that is due to arrive in Brisbane on November 15. It is understood Mark Wood is still not considered fully fit.
If Finn is ruled out of the series, it would be a cruel blow. He returned to Australia just a few days ago with a chance of redeeming himself after a grim 2013-14 Ashes series in which he was deemed “unselectable.”
Source: ESPN Crickinfo