Cole tops stats in tour party

A trans-Atlantic trip may be just what Ashley Cole needs to take his mind off his ‘tapping-up’ troubles – and he arrives in the United States for England’s end-of-season tour as the top-ranked Premiership player present.

Chelsea duo Frank Lampard and John Terry are both undergoing minor surgery and are not travelling Stateside, leaving the Arsenal left-back as England’s main man in the Actim Index, the official ratings system of the Barclays Premiership and the Coca-Cola Championship.