England international and Lancashire pace bowler Saqib Mahmood has been ruled out for the rest of the season due to injury.
The 25-year-old was unavailable for Lancashire’s final three County Championship fixtures - including the last match against Yorkshire - after he complained about back pain in April. Scans have revealed Mahmood has a lumbar stress fracture and will therefore miss the remainder of the 2022 English summer season.
There is no timeframe for Mahmood’s return at this stage. His rehabilitation will be co-managed by both Lancashire's and England’s medical teams as he fights to recover from the setback and return to action later this year.
In March, Mahmood made his first appearance for England as part of the national team’s Test tour of the West Indies. The right-armer revealed he turned down the chance to play in the illustrious IPL in order to increase his chances of playing for England.
Mahmood’s injury is the latest blow for England’s Test team, as the bowling attack has come down with a fresh batch of injuries. With Chris Woakes and Mark Wood already out of contention to play in the series against New Zealand, new red-ball coach Brendon McCullum faces a difficult task as he selects his first squad since taking the reins.
McCullum is set to make his announcement on Wednesday morning. Along with Mahmood, McCullum will also not be able to call on Jofra Archer, who has not played a first-class game for over a year due to nagging elbow injuries.
Do you think England will beat New Zealand in the upcoming Test series? Let us know in the comments section.
He will also be without Olly Stone, who has not played top-level cricket since sustaining his own stress fracture in his back last summer. After a number of injuries, Ollie Robinson suffered food poisoning during Sussex’s draw with Leicestershire just to add to McCullum’s selection headache even more.
Matt Fisher, who joined Mahmood in making his England debut during the unsuccessful tour of the West Indies in March, has been sidelined with what his Yorkshire coach Ottis Gibson described as ‘not a stress fracture, a stress reaction’.
Finally, Sam Curran has publicly targeted the upcoming series against New Zealand as the site of his international comeback. He has been struggling with a long-term back injury, but has so far bowled just 17 overs in four County Championship appearances.
