England’s fast-bowling injury curse has struck again after Surrey confirmed that Jamie Overton has suffered a stress fracture of the back.
Overton had been training in the United Arab Emirates, where he was due to play for the Gulf Giants in the new ILT20 franchise league. He returned to England earlier this week, where further examinations have revealed a stress fracture of the lumbar spine.
The 28-year-old made his Test debut - and only international appearance to date - in the Third Test victory over New Zealand at Headingley this summer, taking two wickets and making a superb first innings 97 to help rescue England following a top order collapse. He was also part of the squad for the tour of Pakistan before Christmas, but did not feature in the 3-0 win.
Surrey have not put a timeline on the Overton’s return but the injury is expected to rule the seamer out of this summer’s Ashes series.
Overton is the latest in a long line of England bowlers to have suffered a stress fracture of the back, with Sam Curran, Olly Stone, Matt Fisher, Jofra Archer and Saqib Mahmood all sidelined for prolonged periods by similar injuries in recent years.
On Wednesday, Archer continued his comeback from almost 18 moths out with another encouraging display for MI Cape Town in South Africa’s SA20 league.
Archer, who took three wickets on his tournament debut, finished with figures of one for 18 from four overs and also impressed in the field with a catch and brilliant run-out of JJ Smuts.
It was not enough to deny Sunrisers Eastern Cape a dramatic victory, however, as Marco Jansen’s 66 off 27 balls secured a two-wicket win.
Archer is scheduled to make his England return in this month’s three-match ODI series against South Africa.
