Tremlett ruled out of Pakistan trip

Hampshire's up-and-coming seam bowler, Chris Tremlett, has been ruled out of England's tour to Pakistan, which gets underway at the end of the month, after failing to recover from a long-term hamstring injury.

Tremlett, who first sustained the injury in his right leg while playing for Hampshire in May, flitted on the fringes of the England squad during the summer. He was named in the squad for four of the five Ashes Tests, having taken part in three matches against Bangladesh and Australia in the NatWest Series.

In the absence of Simon Jones, who has successfully undergone an operation on his right ankle, Tremlett had hoped to push his way into the reckoning this winter, but he was ruled out after a lengthy run of fitness tests. England have elected not to replace him in the 16-man squad, and he now has his sights set on regaining fitness ahead of next year's tour of India.

Dr Peter Gregory, the ECB chief medical officer, said: "Chris has been suffering from hamstring tendonitis behind his right knee on and off for most of the season and unfortunately he wasn't able to progress his training this week in a way that was necessary to make himself available for the tour to Pakistan.

"It was hoped that Chris would respond sufficiently to a period of rest and injections prior to his training at the National Cricket Centre this week but unfortunately this has not been the case.

"There will be ongoing consultation with specialists regarding Chris's injury and he will continue to undergo rehabilitation and assessment by the ECB medical staff at the National Cricket Centre in the hope that he will be fit for the tour to India."

England's chairman of selectors, David Graveney, said: "It's sad that Chris has not been able to develop his training to the desired level of fitness for the Pakistan tour particularly as this would have been his first international tour with the England team. I know how much he was looking forward to representing his country abroad but I've no doubt we can look forward to many positives from Chris once he has made a full recovery in due course.

"The initial Test tour party was set at 17 players in order to provide sufficient seam bowling cover and taking into account the recent injuries to Simon Jones and Chris Tremlett. With this in mind we don't feel the need to replace Chris now that he has been ruled out of the tour.

"Obviously we hope that the seam bowlers selected remain fit throughout the tour but should the need arise for any further inclusions to the squad due to injury, we have a number of suitable options available within the National Academy setup.

"At the conclusion of the team's closed training camp next week the selectors will decide on replacements for the touring one-day squad."