• Opener rolls left ankle during pre-training football game
• Zak Crawley placed on standby to partner Dominic Sibley
Ben Stokes revealed this week that England’s players are calling this trip to South Africa “the cursed tour” and yet more evidence that is indeed the case presented itself on Thursday when the opener Rory Burns was struck down with an ankle injury during the team’s customary pre-training game of football on the eve of the second Test at Newlands.
Burns landed awkwardly on his left ankle in the follow-through from a shot with which he scored despite the close attention of Joe Root. Yet not even VAR could apportion any blame to England’s captain for the unfortunate luck that led to Burns – his team’s top scorer during their opening Test defeat at Centurion – rolling his ankle before being treated by the team doctor Anita Biswas and helped off the field.
Written by Chris Stocks in Cape Town
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/jan/02/england-rory-burns-ankle-injury-before-second-test-south-africa under the title “Rory Burns and Jofra Archer add to England injury woe on ‘cursed’ tour”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
