Explosive batsman Eoin Morgan is a serious doubt for the World Cup due to a fractured finger, England cricket officials said on Saturday, deepening the side’s injury crisis.
A statement from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said Morgan had been ruled out of the seventh and final one-day international against Australia at the WACA Ground in Perth on Sunday.
Morgan joins a growing injury list at the end of an arduous Ashes tour that has run beyond three months and which England coach Andy Flower has blamed for the spate of injuries.
With the England squad to depart for the World Cup next weekend, Morgan became the sixth member of their 15-man group currently sidelined by injury.
The ECB statement said a final decision on Morgan’s participation in the World Cup would be made once a specialist in Britain has assessed the injury.
“Eoin Morgan has been ruled out of the final one-day international of the Commonwealth Bank Series against Australia in Perth with a fracture of the distal phalanx in the middle finger of his left hand,” the statement said.
The 24-year-old was troubled by the injury during the ODI in Adelaide last month and an X-ray revealed a fracture, the ECB said.
Morgan joins World Cup squad members Graeme Swann (back), Paul Collingwood (back), Tim Bresnan (calf), Ajmal Shahzad (hamstring) and Stuart Broad (stomach) on the injured list, the first four having already returned home in a bid to get them fit for the World Cup.
Tall paceman Chris Tremlett, a possible replacement should any of that group fail to prove their fitness, is also currently sidelined by a side strain.
Before the Morgan injury, Flower said that Bresnan was the biggest worry for the World Cup.
Speaking in Perth on Friday, Flower also said that he had no doubt the length of the Ashes tour had contributed to the glut of injuries.
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