England sweat on Ben Duckett fitness after suspected thumb dislocation

Posted by Admin October 8, 2024 Fitness

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England are sweating on Ben Duckett’s availability to bat in their first Test against Pakistan in Multan, after he was unable to open their innings due to a suspected dislocation of his left thumb.

Duckett was fielding at slip when Abrar Ahmed, Pakistan’s No. 11, steered a short ball from Joe Root straight into the tip of his thumb. He held onto the catch at the second attempt but immediately winced in pain, and received treatment from England’s doctor Glen Rae as he walked off the field.

Ollie Pope opened alongside Zak Crawley in Duckett’s place, and fell second-ball to a flying catch at midwicket from Aamer Jamal, but England did not lose another wicket in the remainder of the 20-over batting stint, reaching 96 for 1 at the close.

An England spokesperson said that the team are hoping Duckett’s injury will settle down overnight and that he is not due to go for a scan, but it was not clear on Tuesday evening whether he will be available to bat on the third day.

It would be a significant blow for England to lose Duckett, not least after opting to continue with their six-batter, five-bowler formation in the absence of Ben Stokes. He was England’s second-highest run-scorer in their 3-0 series whitewash in Pakistan two years ago and, with an average of 44.05 in 23 Tests since his recall for that tour, has emerged as one of their most important players.

Stokes is targeting the second Test for his comeback from a torn hamstring and stepped up his recovery on Tuesday. He took slip catches and did some high-intensity running before play started, batted in the nets behind the Waqar Younis Stand for around 45 minutes at lunch, and bowled three overs at tea with James Anderson – back with the squad after competing in a pro-am golf tournament last week – watching on.

England’s resources for the second Test are already depleted, with Olly Stone unlikely to feature after flying home for his wedding in the UK on Saturday. If Duckett is unavailable, he could either be replaced in England’s XI by the spare batter Jordan Cox – who has opened for Kent early in his first-class career – or by Stokes, with a reshuffled batting line-up.