ENGLAND’S fielding coach Paul Collingwood was forced to PLAY in the warm-up game against Cricket Australia XI on Thursday, due to a mounting injury crisis.
Jake Ball limped off in the morning session after spraining his right ankle in only his fifth over of the day.
The Nottinghamshire seamer joins Steven Finn – who has now been sent home – and Moeen Ali on the physio’s table through injury.
Worryingly for England, Finn’s replacement Tom Curran is yet to land Down Under – set to arrive on Friday.
So desperate is the injury crisis for Joe Root’s men, they sent 41-year-old fielding coach Collingwood on as a sub fielder.
The Durham all-rounder was one of the greatest fielders of his generation in his pomp, so England could do far worse.
However, resorting to a coach already shows how threadbare the squad is looking, before the first Test ball has even been bowled.
Ball will be assessed overnight – with his place in this winter’s Ashes series not yet completely written-off.
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Amazingly, Collingwood may well have warranted a spot on the tour in his own right.
Not only is he a fantastic fielder, he’s a handy medium pacer and even boasted a better batting average in County Cricket in 2017 than James Vince – set be England’s No3 on this tour.
England's Ashes Test schedule
Nov 23-27 First Test (Brisbane)
Dec 2-6 Second Test (Adelaide)
Dec 14-18 Third Test (Perth)
Dec 26-30 Fourth Test (Melbourne)
Jan 4-8 Fifth Test (Sydney)
MOST READ IN CRICKET
.@Colly622 is with us as a coach for the #Ashes.
Here he is giving @MoeenAli some RAPID short ball practice today!
pic.twitter.com/i5nUWzjd8f
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) November 9, 2017
Colly racked up 1,087 runs this summer at an impressive average of 49.41 – the 17th best record in Division Two.
Meanwhile, Vince could only muster 626 runs at 32.95 – albeit in Division One.
In fact, Collingwood replaced Vince on the field on Thursday, as the Hampshire batsman required a brief comfort break.
The recent spate of injuries mean England have only 13 fully-fit players Down Under – with Stuart Broad rested for this week’s clash.
Should Ball not recover from his injury, it is likely Tom Helm or Mark Wood would take his spot in the squad.
During the game in Adelaide, England’s bowlers looked good on the whole, reducing the Aussies to 165-7 midway through the evening session.
The wickets were spread between James Anderson, Chris Woakes, Ball – prior to his injury – Craig Overton and Mason Crane.
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