England seam bowler Ollie Robinson will miss the third Test in Grenada after failing to sufficiently recover from the back spasm he had at the start of the tour.
The news will be hugely frustrating for both the bowler and the team who had hoped he would lead the attack during the series against the West Indies. And he had seemingly made good progress with England medical staff in between the matches as he tried to prove his fitness.
Robinson had bowled several spells on the outfield during the lunch breaks in Barbados and had looked like he was moving without trouble and getting the ball down at a good lick. But two days out from the final game in Grenada he had a setback that has ruled him out of contention for the winner-takes-all clash.
England captain Joe Root said: "Ollie trained yesterday but wasn’t as good as we would have liked or he was expecting himself too so we will have to make really sure on that today.
"It’s just as frustrating for him as it is for me. He’s working very hard but there’s something that’s nagging away at him and he’s just got to keep on doing what he’s doing and trust in time that he’s going to get himself back. We all know how effective he has been and how good he’s been in his short career up to now so the sooner we can get him back the better."
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There was better news for Craig Overton who is fully recovered from the illness that kept him out of the second Test at the eleventh hour. Overton joined Robinson in training at the ground in Grenada and came through with flying colours and has been parachuted straight back into the team, at the expense of Matthew Fisher.
Root added: "Craig’s ready to play. Over a long period of time he’s been knocking the door down and has never let us down. Again we’ll just have to assess everyone and make sure we’re ready to go and we’ve got an attack that’s potent and fit enough to get through the game and produce some important spells when we require them."
England team for 3rd Test: Lees, Crawley, Root (c), Lawrence, Stokes, Bairstow, Foakes (wk), Woakes, Overton, Leach, Mahmood
