Steven Finn and Moeen Ali to sit out England's first two Ashes warm-up matches
Friday 3 November 2017 12:40, UK
Steven Finn and Moeen Ali will miss England's first two Ashes warm-up matches on their tour of Australia.
All-rounder Ali has aggravated his left side. He will sit out the first two tour matches against the Western Australia XI starting on Saturday at the WACA and the four-day match against Cricket Australia XI at the Adelaide Oval commencing on November 8.
He is expected to return to full training by mid-November ahead of the tour match in Townsville starting on November 15.
Middlesex seamer Finn, who jarred his left knee while batting, will be monitored by the England medical department over the next seven days and a further decision on his fitness will be made at that time.
He sustained the injury during practice at Richardson Park, Perth on Thursday and sat out training on Friday at the WACA.
Reserve wicketkeeper Ben Foakes is the only uninjured player to miss out, with the other 13 in the squad given an opportunity to play some part in the game under the agreed format.
England skipper Joe Root is currently without a vice-captain in the continued absence of Ben Stokes.
Root insists the current lack of a No 2 is not proving to be a problem, although he is keen to resolve the issue before the upcoming four-day matches against a Cricket Australia XI in Adelaide and Townsville.
"Hopefully that will happen in the next week or so. Leading into the two four-day games it would be nice to have that nailed down by then," said Root.
"With the experience there is around the dressing room and the approach the other lads have, we help each other out all the time.
"They are very approachable and very good to work with, for me as well. I don't think it's too much of an issue in terms of what it adds to the squad.
"More than anything it's making sure that whoever is vice-captain is fully aware that if I am off the field, they are going to be the one in charge."
Root is keen for everyone to try and impress as the battle for places in the opening Test against Australia in Brisbane which gets underway at the Gabba in Brisbane on November 23.
"It's a great opportunity for guys to stand up and stake their claim and it's really important those lads have that mental approach going into these fixtures," he added.
"When they get the chance they have got to try and impress. You have got to be able to perform under that pressure if you want to perform in Ashes cricket.
"We are going to have to play well as a side and perform as a group and there can't be a selfish mentality out in the middle.
"It's going to have to be about doing your job within the team, not worrying about individual performances and make sure collectively that if someone has had a bad day, someone else steps up."
