Cricket:An injury-depleted England squad left Australia today after a gruelling three-month tour with the prospect of a short break before the World Cup. A 6-1 hammering in the one-day series will not have wiped out the euphoria of the Ashes triumph.
But a string of injuries is sure to have a bearing on their preparations for the World Cup, which starts on February 19th. Big-hitting batsman Eoin Morgan was the sixth player to leave the squad because of injury during the tour when he departed yesterday after fracturing the middle finger on his left hand.
Morgan was due to meet a specialist today and his hopes of flying out with the team to the World Cup on Saturday hinge on how long the tests suggest he will be sidelined for.
The 24-year-old is likely to be missing for at least the first couple of weeks of the tournament after skipper Andrew Strauss revealed Morgan has suffered a “substantial break” to the middle finger of his left hand.
Strauss, however, hinted England would be willing to take Morgan to the World Cup even if he is only available for the latter stages of the six-week tournament. England’s opening match is against Holland on February 22nd.
“He’s got a broken finger, he’s going to see a specialist to decide what the best course of action is to remedy that situation,” Strauss said. “There’s obviously a chance that he’s not going to feature (at the World Cup).
"We're going to have to think through - at what stage is the cut-off point the guy needs to be replaced. We're pretty confident the other guys are going to be fit, but Eoin Morgan we are not sure of at this stage.
"It's a big loss for us potentially. He is particularly important in those conditions as well, being able to clear the ropes in the manner that he does.
Hopefully there will be an opportunity for him to play. If he isn't available someone is going to have to fill those shoes."
The "other guys" were Stuart Broad, who injured his side during the Ashes series, Tim Bresnan (calf tear), Ajmal Shahzad (hamstring), Graeme Swann (knee and back injuries) and Paul Collingwood (back).
With such a short turnaround before World Cup, which takes place in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, England will have little time to consider their options.
"The first thing to ponder is who is fit and who is not fit," Strauss added. "That's going to be important to see exactly where we are and have a clear idea of who our best 11 players available are.
"We've got to think about what we haven't done well on this tour and we've got to think about how to adapt our game to the conditions in the sub-continent pretty quickly.
"There is a few things for us to think about. I'm still feel very confident we can do well out there but we need to play in a different manner to how we have over here."