England batter Jacob Bethell has suffered a left hamstring injury just 10 days before the start of the ICC Champions Trophy.
Bethell sustained the injury after scoring 51 batting at No 6 as England lost the first ODI against India as preparations continue towards the Champions Trophy, live on Sky Sports. The 21-year-old’s injury will be assessed when the team arrive in Ahmedabad on Monday.
Tom Banton has been called up as cover for England’s third ODI against India on Wednesday. He will join up with the squad on Monday.
Bethell only made his England debut in September but has featured 22 times in all formats.
Banton, who last played for England in an ODI in August 2020, has been in outstanding form in T20 franchise cricket. He is currently comfortably the leading run-scorer in the UAE ILT20 competition, where he has amassed 493 runs from 11 innings at an average of 54.77, including two centuries.
He is viewed as the most in-form batter on the franchise circuit, but he has been looking for a recall to the international set-up after being dropped by England for a second time in 2022.
Tom Banton gets a chance to return to the England set-up
Still only 26, Banton burst on to the scene with a breakout domestic summer for Somerset in 2019 and made 20 appearances for England, with three fifties, before dropping out of contention.
However, he stood out in red and white-ball cricket last summer for Somerset and Trent Rockets.
Wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith, sidelined since midway through the T20 series with a calf problem, could return in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
But with their Champions Trophy opener against Australia on February 22 in Lahore, Pakistan – live on Sky Sports – England are unlikely to take any major risks.
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England are in Group B for the Champions Trophy with Australia, South Africa and Afghanistan. India, Pakistan, New Zealand and Bangladesh comprise Group A.
As well as Smith and Bethell missing Sunday’s second ODI in Cuttack, England rested Brydon Carse and Jofra Archer owing to minor toe and hand injuries, leading to assistant coaches and former internationals Paul Collingwood and Marcus Trescothick being named among the substitute fielders.
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