England were landed a soft blow in their preparations for their upcoming West Indies tour with star speedster Josh Tongue ruled out with an injury. Tongue, impressive in the only Test match against Ireland at Lord’s and then in the Ashes, was tipped for a white-ball cricket debut, but those plans were thrown out of the window after an injury suffered in training on Thursday during the team’s camp in Abu Dhabi. Matthew Potts has been roped in as a replacement for Tongue for the ODIs with no confirmation on whether he will be available for the T20I series.

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Injury setback for Tongue

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After a disappointing show at the World Cup, England’s selector panel led by Luke Wright is firm on focusing on the youth. As a result, Tongue was in line for his ODI debut for England during the West Indies tour with several big stars missing out. He was called into the squad along with fellow uncapped players Ollie Pope and John Turner, with the former also serving as vice-captain in the Test format.

While the extent of the injury remains unknown, Tongue could still return to the squad to face the West Indies during the T20I series which starts on December 12. He will be a vital part of the team’s preparations for the upcoming five-match Test series against India in February. With Stuart Broad’s retirement and James Anderson at the twilight of his career, Tongue along with Chris Woakes and Mark Wood form the backbone of the English bowling unit.

Tongue was offered a two-year deal by the English Cricket Board (ECB) as part of the central contract that sees him being an important part of the near future. His replacement Matthew Potts was also offered a lucrative deal by the ECB and he too is part of the plans.

Only six players from the World Cup squads made it to the West Indies tour with Dawid Malan being the biggest miss. He is predicted to have been done with the national side as the selectors are now focusing on grooming the next generation.

ODI squad: Jos Buttler (captain), Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Ollie Pope, Phil Salt, Matthew Potts, John Turner.

T20I squad: Jos Buttler (captain), Rehan Ahmed, Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Tymal Mills, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Josh Tongue, Reece Topley, John Turner, Chris Woakes.

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