England's Carse out of IPL with hand injury

Brydon Carse was England's leading wicket-taker in the Ashes with 22 England fast bowler Brydon Carse has been ruled out of his Indian Premier League (IPL) stint with Sunrisers Hyderabad because of a hand injury. The 30-year-old sustained the injury to his right hand - his bowling hand - in training and will return home to be assessed. It is the second time in as many seasons Carse has had to pull out of the Sunrisers squad without playing a game.

Last year he had a toe injury. The impact on Carse's availability for England's first Test of the summer against New Zealand on 4 June will only be known with more information about the injury. The IPL final is on 31 May, four days before the series opener against the Black Caps at Lord's.

It would be difficult for any pace bowler who remains at the IPL until the closing stages of the competition to switch to the workload of Test cricket at such short notice. Jofra Archer, currently playing for Rajasthan Royals, could be in this situation. If Carse's injury is not too severe, he could be available for the first Test, though he too would have to boost his loads in order to be match fit.

It seems likely there will be pace-bowling spots up for grabs in the England squad, probably alongside Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson. Matthew Fisher was called into the Ashes squad and would be one contender, alongside Surrey team-mate Tom Lawes. Sonny Baker has a central contract and has made a good start to the season with Hampshire.