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Butcher sidelined until August

Mark Butcher's hopes of playing in this summer's Ashes have all but ended, due to a troublesome wrist injury that could now keep him out of action until August.

Cricinfo staff
24-Jun-2005


Mark Butcher: wrist issues © Getty Images
Mark Butcher's hopes of playing in this summer's Ashes have all but ended, due to a troublesome wrist injury that could now keep him out of action until August.
Butcher's finest hour came in the fourth Test at Headingley during the last Ashes summer in 2001, when his unbeaten 173 carried England to an astonishing victory. He went onto to play in 42 consecutive matches, until a bizarre run of injuries last summer - including a whiplash from a car-crash and a groin strain while moving house - loosened his grip on the No. 3 berth.
"August is looking like the best I can hope for," Butcher told BBC Sport. "I had hoped to be back playing by May, but things can move on. The Ashes still has to be in the back of my mind."
Butcher played in the opening two Tests of last winter's tour of South Africa, but withdrew on the morning of the third match at Cape Town when his wrist problem became too severe to continue. He was appointed as captain of Surrey for the 2005 season - a move that many interpreted as the beginning of the end of his Test career - but as yet he has been unable to lead his side, with Mark Ramprakash standing in until his recent finger injury.
"I went to see my specialist on Tuesday to have an injection," Butcher added. "The problem I have now is the swelling from the operation. The ligament damage has repaired but the wrist has not got back to normal as far as the swelling is concerned."
Since his injury, Butcher has slipped way down the pecking order of aspiring England batsmen. Robert Key was his initial replacement in South Africa, but this summer the claims of Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen have come to the fore. "There couldn't have been a worse year for this to happen," Butcher admitted, "but I just have to stay positive and hope everything goes well."
"The injection seems to be working and it's starting to look a little bit more like my hand now, but I have to keep a splint on it for another week. And then I have to start the arduous business of getting the exercises done, getting strength back into it and getting mobility back before I can even think about practising again."
But Butcher is well aware that when the Australians are in town, nothing can ever be ruled out. "One thing Ashes series have taught me over the years is that there always tends to be injuries and losses of form. That's how I got back into the side in 2001, through other people's misfortune. Without wishing that on anybody, there's always the possibility."