London: Paceman Ollie Robinson has been ruled out of England’s first Test against the West Indies in Antigua after suffering a back spasm, with uncapped seamer Saqib Mahmood brought into the squad.
Robinson pulled up midway through an over during a warm-up match against a Cricket West Indies President’s XI and was unable to take part in training on Sunday.
England was already unlikely to gamble on the 28-year-old’s fitness but the incident settled the issue, allowing Mahmood to take his spot in a 12-man group.
The tourists must now decide whether to hand the Lancashire quick his Test debut on Tuesday in an all-seam attack or opt for the variety of Jack Leach’s left-arm spin.
Mark Wood, Chris Woakes, and Craig Overton are likely to fill the other seam berths after record wicket-taker James Anderson and Stuart Broad were controversially dropped for the tour.
“Ollie is a talented bowler — naturally he’ll be a big miss,” Woakes said in comments carried by the BBC.
“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.”
The final XI will be confirmed at the toss at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
England 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