Essex v New Zealanders, Chelmsford, 1st day

Cook suffers finger injury

Cricinfo staff

May 2, 2008

All England's fitness bulletins in recent weeks have concerned Andrew Flintoff, but Alastair Cook sent alarm bells ringing when he sprinted from the field at Chelmsford after picking up a hand injury against the New Zealanders.

It was confirmed he'd suffered a dislocated little finger on his right hand, but it wasn't causing too much concern in the Essex camp. He was sent for a precautionary x-ray, which showed no fracture, and he is expected to take a full part on the second day and open the batting is normal.

The injury occurred when Cook failed to hold a catch off Daniel Vettori in the gully and immediately ran from the ground holding his right hand. The finger was put back into place by Mark Thomas, the Essex physio, who confirmed Cook "was in no pain."

Cook's catching showed a notable improvement during the tour of New Zealand, where he held a series of stunning efforts during the first Test in Hamilton. He has a good fitness record for England, only missing one Test since his debut against India in Nagpur when he was forced out of the third match in that series, in Mumbai, with a stomach bug.

If England do require reserve batting at any stage they have a number of players showing impressive form. Robert Key took an unbeaten 178 off the New Zealanders at Canterbury while Ravi Bopara, Cook's team-mate, has been scoring runs for fun this season, and Owais Shah would also be in the reckoning.

The first Test starts at Lord's on May 15.

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