Friday 3 January 2020 16:54, UK
England opening batsman Rory Burns has been ruled out of the remainder of the four-Test series against South Africa after sustaining ankle ligament damage while playing football in training.
The 29-year-old will return home for further assessment and treatment at the earliest convenience, after captain Joe Root inflicted the damage on his team-mate's left ankle in training on Thursday.
Burns' footballing injury follows Jonny Bairstow suffering a similar predicament in Sri Lanka in late 2018 and Sky Sports Cricket's Nasser Hussain said he thought England's kickabouts would be scrapped - and they now have been.
"This will open a whole new can of worms because [England's managing director of cricket] Ashley Giles announced when he first came in that the one thing he wants to stop is football before a game because he sees the number of injuries through it," Hussain said on Thursday.
"They are told to play football but to not tackle and have no physical contact. But you know what it's like when 15 players get together - they can't hold themselves back.
"You have to balance it. People at home will be thinking 'we're not paying them to go out and play football' but it is their one release. They love it.
"It gets them warm and loose but if you keep having injuries, Giles may well ban it again."
Watch continued live coverage of the second Test on Sky Sports Cricket.
