No timescale on England pacer Josh Tongue’s return ahead of busy summer Test schedule

New Delhi [India], May 17 (ANI): England pacer Josh Tongue suffered a pectoral injury that could result in the 26-year-old missing most of the summer.

Tongue made his Test debut last summer against Ireland and has been on the sidelines since August. He missed England’s white-ball tour of the Caribbean and Test series in India which was held earlier this year.

An ECB spokesperson confirmed that there is no timescale on when Tongue will return while speaking to Sky Sports, “Josh (Tongue) has had a setback to his original injury (pectoral injury). There is no timescale on when he’ll return to action.”

On the back of his strong Test outings, Tongue has been considered to be one of the players to replace ageless seamer James Anderson. The veteran pacer will play his final Test against West Indies in July at The Lord’s.

Tongue has featured in just two Test matches for the Three Lions but he boasts some impressive figures. He has 10 wickets to his name at an average of 25.70 and an economy of 3.38.

For 22 years, England’s pace attack has been spearheaded by Anderson. In 187 Tests, the 41-year-old has a whopping 700 wickets at an average of 26.52, with the best bowling figures of 7/42. He has also taken 269 wickets in 194 ODIs for England and 18 wickets in 19 T20Is.

Before squaring off against West Indies in the red ball format, England have an action-packed schedule. They will engage in a 4-match T20I series against Pakistan.

The T20I series will begin on May 22 at Headingley Carnegie and will conclude on May 30 at The Oval, London. For the series England even recalled their players back from the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.

The series will play a crucial role in England’s title defence in the T20 World Cup in June in the USA and the West Indies. England will fly to the Caribbean on May 31 ahead of their first game against Scotland in Barbados on June 4. They are placed in Group B at the T20 World Cup alongside Australia, Namibia, Scotland and Oman.

England squad: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonathan Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, Mark Wood.