England suffer more Ashes misery as Jake Ball breaks down in agony during warm-up

England’s Ashes tour lurched from bad to worse on Thursday when Jake Ball broke down on day two of the second warm-up match against a Cricket Australia XI here in Adelaide.

Ball was left in agony midway through his fourth over of the day when his right ankle buckled on contact with the turf during his delivery stride.

After several minutes of treatment, the Nottinghamshire bowler was led from the field by England physio Craig de Weymarn, and he must now be a serious fitness concern for the opening Ashes Test in Brisbane in a fortnight.

This was the last thing England needed just two days after Steven Finn was ruled out of the tour with a torn left knee cartilage.

With Tom Curran, Finn’s replacement, yet to arrive here and Moeen Ali ruled out of this warm-up match with a side strain, the tourists currently have just 13 fit players available.

With Stuart Broad rested, Gary Ballance on the field as a replacement for Ball and reserve wicketkeeper Ben Foakes netting, Paul Collingwood — who retired from Test cricket at the end of the 2010-11 Ashes tour — entered the fray as a substitute fielder during today’s middle session while James Vince was off the field.

Collingwood, 41, is still playing for Durham but the sight of their fielding coach standing at mid-on underlined the depths of England’s problems so far on a tour which has been overshadowed from the start by the absence of star all-rounder Ben Stokes, who remains unavailable for selection following his late-night fracas in Bristol in September.

With Toby Roland-Jones injured and Mark Wood yet to prove his fitness, England’s bowling stocks were already stretched even before the squad was announced.

The initial diagnosis from medics on Ball is a sprain but the 26-year-old, who will be reassessed overnight before a likely scan, is unlikely to play any further part in this match.

Ball will surely have to prove his fitness in England’s final tour game in Townsville next week if he is to be considered for the First Test.

Yet with the Townsville game starting on Wednesday, he is facing a race against time to be fit.

Ball had looked the most threatening of England’s bowlers before he went off towards the end of the first session, removing Australian batsman Ryan Gibson and returning figures of one for five from 3.4 overs.