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Jamie Overton’s lower-back stress fracture diagnosis has handed another damage to England’s fast-bowling prospects, as he will miss their summer Test series against the West Indies and Sri Lanka.
June 2022 was Overton’s sole Test match at Headingley, where he took two wickets against New Zealand and scored 97 runs from No. 8 in the match. However, he was forced to miss the Ashes series last summer due to a stress fracture. Now, following inconclusive back scans, he has been diagnosed with another stress fracture, which will probably keep him out of action for the remainder of the English summer.
Overton, who was supposed to play for England in the T20 World Cup in June, has suffered a painful blow. He was uneasy following Surrey’s draw against Somerset in the County Championship. Overton was “very much in the running” for selection, according to England men’s managing director Rob Key, who also described his absence as “desperately unlucky”.
Following Stuart Broad’s retirement following the Ashes last summer and James Anderson’s impending retirement from international cricket following the first West Indies Test at Lord’s, England’s fast-bowling depth will be put to the test this summer.
Josh Tongue, who transferred from Worcestershire to Nottinghamshire over the off-season, has not yet made an appearance this year and is not expected to participate in any Test matches this summer because of a pectoral muscle problem. “Josh experienced a setback related to his initial injury,” an ECB representative stated. “There is no timescale on when he’ll return to action.”
The last morning of Lancashire’s Championship match against Durham on Monday saw multiple on-and off-field appearances from Saqib Mahmood, who is recuperating from his own multiple stress fractures. Matthew Potts bowled just three overs in Lancashire’s second innings.