Jason Roy, Liam Plunkett doubtful for England's Tri-series opener against Australia

Ahead of the tri-series opening clash against Australia on Wednesday, England’s swashbuckling opener Jason Roy and pace bowler Liam Plunkett are doubtful starters due to injuries. In the first match of the series, Australia thrashed New Zealand by seven wickets by DLS method in the rain-affected match, credit to Aussie bowlers Andrew Tye (4/23) and Billy Stanlake (3/15) followed by a smooth batting performance from Chris Lynn (40) and Glenn Maxwell (44) who chased the reduced 95-run-target.

Roy, on the other hand, who was back to his original self in the 1^st ODI against Australia in Melbourne, is suffering from a back spasm that kept him out of the warm-up game against Cricket Australia XI in Canberra while Plunkett sustained a hamstring injury in the third ODI in Sydney and has been out of action since then.

Apart from the duo, England has another injury issue to deal with in the form of Chris Jordan who is also sidelined with a hamstring injury while Alex Hales has a hand injury. However, both are expected to be fit in time for the Hobart game according to skipper Eoin Morgan.

Jordan and Hales are expected to be fit

“Jordan and Hales are expected to be fit, Plunkett and Roy are closer to 50-50,” Morgan told cricket.com.au. “Jason had a light back spasm, overnight that got worse. He woke up Friday and it was worse. It could be five days which runs him tight up to the game in Hobart. One of the reasons the injuries have been niggly is the flight over to Canberra, then two training days.

“Perhaps we’ll look at that again. We do a lot of flying in this series so we might not train as much as we’re supposed to. Rest and recuperation might limit the injuries a little.”

After the game on Wednesday against Australia, England will head to Melbourne to face the same opposition again on Saturday. It is expected that the visitors will be high on confidence after thrashing the Aussies 4-1 in the recently concluded ODI series. Joe Root will be absent after returning home to rest after the ODI series. Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali have also been rested. Ben Stokes has been named in England’s squad to face New Zealand on February 13th.