Injured Finn set to miss Ahmedabad Test – Cricket News Update
With less than 48 hours to go into the first Test of the four-match series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Harold-William-Stephenson-c61707 Finn’s strained thigh, as the gangling fast bowler skipped the practice sessions on Tuesday.
Ahead of the much awaited series opener, the tourists are sweating over the fitness of ace pacers Steve Finn and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820 last month, while the latter suffered a bruising to his left heel, in the second tour game against Mumbai A last week.
Both Finn and his fellow seamer Stuart Broad were supposed to bowl in the nets on Tuesday, in a bid to prove their fitness ahead of Thursday's series opener, but the gangling http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Middlesex-c817 seamer failed to appear in the nets and also missed the fielding drills. Spearhead pacer Broad however, practiced as scheduled, bowling six overs in two spells.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MJ-Prior-c1984 later admitted that Finn’s chances of making the playing XI on Thursday were quite bleak.
"The one thing you would say is, if there was a realistic chance of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ST-Finn-c2566 playing, then he probably would have had a long bowl today," Prior told Sky Sports News on Tuesday.
However, he did not rule the seamer out of the Ahmedabad Test, saying his injury was coming along “brilliantly”.
"We'll see how he comes in tomorrow - they might be saving it," the gloveman added of Finn. "With an injury like this, every day counts. He looks good, feels good; it's coming along brilliantly. So we'll just have to wait and see," he went on to add.
The South Africa-born 30-year-old England player conceded that Finn’s failure to recover in-time for the series opener would be a huge blow for the Poms, however he was confident they have the resources to fill the void.
"It's a setback. But we’ve a lot of strength and depth in the squad," said Prior, a veteran of 58 Tests and 68 One Day Internationals. "If Finny's not available, there's another guy that can step in and do as good a job - that's the way we look at it," the wicketkeeper concluded.
Finn’s absence will in all probability see http://www.senore.com/Cricket/JM-Anderson-c1705 and Stuart Broad.
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