(Cricket News) English quick bowler Josh Tongue, the potential replacement for the great James Anderson will miss the start of English summer due to an injury. England were looking at Tongue to make a mark in place of Anderson who is set to retire post the first test this English summer, but as things stand there is “no timescale” to his return yet.
Tongue, 26, has had a setback with his pectoral injury which has kept him out of the game since August last year. The injury also forced him to miss tours of Caribbean and India as well as some cricket at home in the past year.
Anderson, the English great will be playing his last international game against the West Indies, which will be played at the Home of cricket, Lord’s from the 10th of July. Tongue was expected to be one of the frontrunners for the vacancy, with England ideally hoping for him to get enough overs under the belt before the Ashes Down Under.
“Josh has had a setback to his original injury. There is no timescale on when he’ll return to action,” the England & Wales Cricket Board said in a statement.
Tongue made his debut last year in June against Ireland and also featured in the Ashes series which followed soon after. His versatility and the ability to bowl with the new ball and also play the role of aggressor with the old one has impressed one and all including skipper Ben Stokes.
England will now be in search of a formidable bowling combination in the absence of their stalwarts Anderson and Broad. They fortunately have Mark Wood and Ollie Robinson with a healthy number of Test caps between them along with the likes of Matthew Potts and Gus Atkinson.
England will be hosting Pakistan, West Indies, Sri Lanka and Australia this season. West Indies and Sri Lanka will be the once to feature across six tests in the 2024 English summer. Both the side will play three tests each.
