England's Ashes preparations were rocked Sunday after spinner Jack Leach was ruled out of the entire series with a back stress fracture.
The 31-year-old Leach claimed four wickets during England's 10-wicket victory over Ireland at Lord's but developed low back symptoms during the match.
A subsequent scan on Sunday revealed a stress fracture in the lumbar region of the spine, which will rule the key spinner out of all five tests against Australia.
“England will announce a replacement for the Ashes series in due course,” an England statement said.
Leach has taken 124 wickets in 35 tests overall with best match figures of 10-166.
The first Ashes test starts June 16 at Edgbaston.
