Jake Ball suffers an ankle ligament strain and is a doubt for Townsville

England seamer Jake Ball is a doubt for England’s next warm-up match starting in Townsville on Wednesday November 15 after scans revealed that he has sustained a right ankle ligament strain during day two of the four-day tour match against a Cricket Australia XI at the Adelaide Oval.

The England medical team will assess the injury over the next seven days and he will play no further part in the Adelaide match.

National selectors have called up England Lions and Sussex left-arm seamer George Garton as cover in Townsville for the final warm-up match ahead of the first Test, which gets underway at the GABBA, Brisbane on Thursday November 23. He will then rejoin the Lions party for their camp in Queensland.

The Lions fly into Brisbane on November 14, for a two-week camp with a red-ball focus culminating in a three-day match against a Queensland XI at the Allan Border Oval from November 27-29.

They then head west to Perth for two weeks focusing on white-ball skills during which they will play three T20 matches against a Perth Scorchers team who will be preparing for the Big Bash.

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