McGrath tour prospects hang in the balance

Glenn McGrath will find out in the next 48 hours whether his Ashes series is over, as he awaits news on the ankle injury he sustained on the morning of the second Test at Edgbaston.

McGrath, 35, stepped on a cricket ball during a pre-match warm up and suffered a grade two tear of his lateral ligament. After recording figures of 9 for 82 in the first Test, it was a major blow to Australia's fortunes, and to McGrath's own.

"I am not trying to think about the possibility that my Ashes tour might be over, but the next 48 hours should settle the issue once and for all," McGrath told The Mail on Sunday. "While I have more or less conceded it is highly unlikely I will be fit in time to play the third Test at Old Trafford, I still have my sights set firmly on the fourth Test at Trent Bridge."

McGrath has now dispensed with the crutches on which he arrived at the ground on Friday morning, and has been spending time in the swimming pool in a bid to regain his mobility. "It was particularly hard for me because after the first Test at Lord's my confidence was as high as it has ever been," he said. "I was really looking forward to more of the same here."