George Garton, the Sussex left-arm fast bowler, has been called up as cover for England’s final warm-up match ahead of the Ashes, against a Cricket Australia XI in Townsville next week, after scans revealed that Jake Ball has suffered a ligament strain in his right ankle.
Garton, 20, is a product of the Sussex youth programme, first representing the county at under-10 level. After spending two years in the Academy, he signed his first professional contract as an 18-year-old at the end of 2015.
He made his first-team debut at the beginning of the 2016 season, and since then has played eight first-class, ten one-day and twelve T20 matches for Sussex, taking 46 wickets across all formats.
In his short career, he has forged a reputation as a raw and rapid fast bowler, and was considered for the call-up ahead of Durham’s Mark Wood and Middlesex’s Tom Helm, neither of whom were considered to be sufficiently match-fit.
He is the second injury replacement of England’s Ashes campaign, after Surrey’s Tom Curran was drafted into the main tour party last week, after Steven Finn was forced to fly home after injuring his knee while batting in the nets at Perth.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo