Somerset captain Tom Abell has been ruled out of a potential England debut on next month’s white-ball tour of Bangladesh after suffering a side injury.
Abell received his first senior call-up when named in both T20 and ODI squads for the tour earlier this month, but picked up the injury during England Lions’ four-wicket victory over a Sri Lanka A side in Colombo on Wednesday.
“Abell underwent a scan today, after he suffered the injury while bowling against Sri Lanka A, and is set to return home to begin his recovery,” an ECB statement said.
The 28-year-old had been one of the chief beneficiaries of scheduling conflicts that left selectors with a depleted pool of players for the tour.
England’s ongoing Test series in New Zealand is not due to finish until the day before the first ODI in Bangladesh on March 1, while several more established white-ball players, including Alex Hales, made themselves unavailable in order to take up more lucrative franchise stints in the Pakistan Super League.
England have decided against calling up a replacement, leaving teenage spinner Rehan Ahmed as the only potential debutant in either format.