Morgan in doubt for World Cup as they lose another ODI
Matt Somerford
PERTH, AUSTRALIA // Andrew Strauss, the England captain, has confirmed that Eoin Morgan could be ruled out of the World Cup because of a fractured finger.
Morgan became the sixth England player to leave the tour of Australia because of injury after being diagnosed with the fracture to the middle finger in his left hand and will see a specialist today in England to determine how long he faces out of the game.
That information will be known when Strauss and Andy Flower, the team director, meet with the England selectors upon their arrival back in the country tomorrow, when they will discuss the possibility of injury replacements for the 15-man squad.
Strauss admitted that Morgan is the player most at risk at being ruled out after describing the injury as a "substantial break".
Ricky Ponting, the Australia captain, has been sidelined for six weeks since he suffered a similar injury during The Ashes, and only returned to batting in the nets last week.
A similar timetable would spell the end of Morgan's World Cup hopes, even though Strauss intimated England may be willing to retain him for the latter stages.
"There's obviously a chance that he's not going to feature [at the World Cup]. We're going to have to think it through - at what stage is the cut-off point the guy needs to be replaced?" Strauss said.
"We're pretty confident the other guys are going to be fit, but Eoin Morgan we are not sure of at this stage. It's a big loss for us potentially."
Strauss and his teammates will fly home from Perth this evening after a forgettable one-day series that saw them beaten 6-1 but also undermined their World Cup hopes because of the number of injuries suffered.
A 57-run defeat in Perth yesterday completed the protracted series that has seen World Cup squad members Graeme Swann (knee/back), Tim Bresnan (calf), Ajmal Shahzad (hamstring), Paul Collingwood (back) and Morgan all leave the tour early.
With Stuart Broad also still recovering from a stomach injury he suffered during The Ashes, England have six of their World Cup squad sidelined less than a week before they are due to fly to the subcontinent.
