England in West Indies: Ollie Robinson ruled out of first Test with back injury
- Published
Ollie Robinson has taken 39 wickets in nine Test since making his debut against New Zealand last year
West Indies v England, first Test |
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Venue: Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua Dates: 8-12 March Time: 14:00 GMT |
BBC coverage: Live text commentary on BBC Sport website & app; daily Test Match Special podcasts |
England seam bowler Ollie Robinson has been ruled out of the first Test against West Indies with a back injury.
Robinson, 28, left the field because of a back spasm on the third morning of England's warm-up against a Cricket West Indies President's XI in Antigua.
He did not return to bowl on the fourth and final day on Friday and will now miss the first Test in Antigua, which starts on Tuesday.
Saqib Mahmood has taken Robinson's spot in a 12-man England squad.
England's likely seam attack for the first Test will be Mark Wood, Chris Woakes and Craig Overton, but Lancashire's uncapped Mahmood could be chosen for the fourth bowler spot in place of Jack Leach's left-arm spin.
England's final team will be confirmed at the toss on Tuesday.
"Ollie is a talented bowler. Naturally he'll be a big miss," said Woakes.
"He's shown in his short Test career so far that he's certainly got the skills and the ability to do good things in the format. At the same time, it gives people opportunities.
"We're trying to win games cricket here, but it does give that chance to someone to potentially make their Test debut who's been waiting in the wings for quite a while to show what they can can do at this level."
England dropped James Anderson and Stuart Broad, their top two leading Test wicket-takers, for the West Indies tour, with Robinson set to be a key part of the attack in their absence.
Neither Anderson, 39, nor Broad, 35, are expected to join the squad if Robinson is ruled out of the series, with Warwickshire seamer Liam Norwell, 30, the first reserve.
Full squad
Joe Root (captain), Jonny Bairstow, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes (wicketkeeper), Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Alex Lees, Saqib Mahmood, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
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