Onions to return home

England fast bowler sidelined by back injury

Last updated: 11th March 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Onions to return home

Onions: Heading home

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England fast bowler Graham Onions is to fly home after a back injury ended his involvement on the tour to Bangladesh.

The Durham ace had already been ruled out of the first Test in Chittagong due to the problem.

However, with the injury showing no signs of improving, England medical team have now admitted that Onions will now return home to recover.

Onions suffered the back spasm bowling in the nets, with the injury topping off a disappointing tour for the 27-year-old.

Having teamed up with the squad for the Tests, Onions has been limited to bowling a few overs in the nets and was forced to sit out the warm-up game against Bangladesh A.

England captain Alastair Cook said: "I'm desperately disappointed for him.

Unlucky

"He was a huge part of our plans and he still is, obviously, because of the way he bowled in South Africa.

"He was unlucky not to take more wickets than he did there because he bowled really well.

"I was expecting him come to these conditions and bowl really well too."

Disappointment

Onions himself later expressed disappointment at the news but accepted there was little other choice given the brief length of the Test series.

"Of course it's frustrating," he said. "Whenever you come on tour - and especially because this is just my second tour - you are always looking to make an impression.

"I'm now travelling home and it's very disappointing. But on a tour where you only have two weeks to make an impression unfortunately I have run out of time."

Onions also said he is currently unsure about the precise nature of the complaint but is hoping to be fully fit for the start of the domestic season.

"If I'm being totally honest I'm not exactly 100 per cent sure what the problem is because I had an MRI scan and nothing came up on that," he said.

"Hopefully it's just a case of having 5-7 days' complete rest to get myself ready.

"The best thing for me is to get myself home and get myself ready for the English summer."

With Middlesex rookie Steven Finn having already arrived as cover after Ryan Sidebottom headed home, England will not be calling up any replacement for Onions.

The 6ft 7in giant Finn could now find himself in line for a debut, with Cook impressed with the bowling talent available to him.

"These things happen and luckily we've got the strength in depth in our seam-bowling unit to be able to cope," he added.