England captain Andrew Strauss on Sunday conceded gifted batsman Eoin Morgan was in considerable doubt for the World Cup after breaking a finger.
Morgan missed England’s final one-day international against Australia in Perth on Sunday with the injury, which he suffered in the ODI in Adelaide last month.
Morgan at first thought his finger was just bruised and Strauss said he “was quite surprised” when X-rays revealed a substantial fracture.
The Irish-born batsman headed back to Britain ahead of his teammates to see a specialist, with England’s 15-man squad due to fly to the World Cup next weekend.
Strauss said Morgan was the major concern of six players from his World Cup squad currently battling injury.
Although he did not rule Morgan out, Strauss conceded they were preparing for the likelihood the left-hander would not be available for the tournament.
“He’s got a broken finger and he’s going to see a specialist tomorrow to decide what the best course of action is to remedy that situation,” Strauss said after England ended their Australia tour with defeat in the final ODI in Perth.
“There obviously has to be a chance he is not going to feature. Hopefully there will be an opportunity for him to to play, but if he isn’t available is going to have to fill his shoes.”
Strauss said a final decision on Morgan would hinge on what stage of the tournament he was likely to be available for, if any.
Although he endured a tough tour of Australia, failing to break into the Test side and then struggling for form in the ODIs, Morgan’s innovative middle order batting was considered crucial to England’s World Cup hopes.
The 24-year-old has played 61 ODIs, scoring 1094 runs at 38.08, including four centuries.
Strauss said Morgan would be hard to replace.
“Obviously in those conditions being able to clear the ropes in the manner that he does. It is big loss for us … potentially,” he said.
The other England World Cup squad members with injury worries are Paul Collingwood (back), Graeme Swann (back), Ajmal Shahzad (hamstring), Tim Bresnan (calf) and Stuart Broad (stomach), with potential replacement Chris Tremlett also battling a side strain.
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