Vaughan’s injury worry for England

ENGLAND are facing an anxious wait to determine whether captain Michael Vaughan is fit enough to feature in the second Ashes Test after sustaining another injury in the nets at Edgbaston.

Vaughan was rushed to hospital yesterday for an X-ray after being struck on the right elbow by seamer Chris Tremlett as he attempted a pull shot in the nets, which put his participation in tomorrow’s second Test in jeopardy.

The X-ray revealed no fracture and Vaughan was instead diagnosed as having heavy bruising, but his fitness is by no means assured and he will be reassessed after practice at Edgbaston today before England decide whether he is fit enough to lead them out against Australia.

England’s backroom staff remain hopeful of Vaughan’s full recovery and may not make a final decision until Thursday morning, but the selectors were considering their options and whether to call up a batsman as cover.

If that is the case, England will be hopeful the replacement has as much of an impact as the last time Vaughan missed a Test. When the Yorkshire player was ruled out of the Lord’s Test against New Zealand last summer, Andrew Strauss was called up and scored a century on his debut.

Somerset opener Marcus Trescothick is expected to captain the side if Vaughan is absent, but remains hopeful he will not be given the responsibility.

“It’s a bit of an unknown at the moment. I’ve been hit there quite a few times - Andrew Caddick used to hit me there for fun - and generally it’s really painful for 24 hours and then it eases pretty quickly. We’re hopeful but he’s obviously pretty sore at the moment,” he said.

Durham all-rounder Paul Collingwood, called up as an extra member of the squad after England expressed concern about an Edgbaston wicket dampened by last week’s tornado, could move closer to a place in the starting line-up because of yesterday’s events.

Collingwood is the most in-form batsman in the country after scoring three centuries for his county last week, and he acquitted himself impressively during his two Test appearances in Sri Lanka two years ago.

He will certainly come into the selectors’ thoughts, but they could also consider a specialist number three like Kent’s Robert Key, who has been overlooked since featuring in the last Test against South Africa in Centurion last January but is more experienced at batting higher up the order.

The other possible consideration would be to promote Warwickshire’s Ian Bell - who struggled during the opening Test at Lord’s, scoring just 14 runs in his two innings - on his home ground to three and allow Collingwood to bat down the order.