England call up uncapped seamer George Garton as cover for Jake Ball for Ashes warm-up
Scans confirm Ball has right ankle ligament strain and is a doubt for final Ashes warm-up match in Townsville
Saturday 11 November 2017 08:14, UK
England have called up uncapped Lions seamer George Garton as cover for their final Ashes warm-up match, after scans confirmed Jake Ball has suffered ankle ligament damage.
Ball, who will be assessed by the England medical team over the next seven days, sustained his injury on day two of the tourists' 192-run victory over a Cricket Australia XI in Adelaide and played no further part in the day-night match.
Sussex left-armer Garton, 20, was due to fly to Australia with the Lions this month but will arrive early and divert to briefly join the Test squad in Townsville for the warm-up against the Cricket Australia XI, starting on Wednesday.
Garton, who made his Sussex debut last year, has taken 23 wickets in nine first-class games, as well as 31 in 17 matches across the 50-over and 20-over competitions.
The Brighton-born seamer has been drafted in ahead of Durham's Mark Wood and Middlesex's Tom Helm, both of whom are understood to be short of full fitness as they recover from heel and hamstring injuries respectively.
Garton will return to England Lions - who will play a three-day match against a Queensland XI from Monday, November 27 - after the Townsville match ends on November 18.
England seamer Craig Overton is optimistic that Ball will not be out of action for too long, with the first Ashes Test beginning at The Gabba in Brisbane on November 23.
"He's feeling good," said the Somerset bowler after England's warm-up win in Adelaide. "From what I heard, it is sort of a week to 10 days. We hope it will be a bit quicker, but we're not entirely sure yet."
