The Ashes 2017-18: England COACH Paul Collingwood forced to play in day-night clash against Cricket Australia XI as tourists’ injury-crisis worsens
Jake Ball limped off injured on day two of the clash in Adelaide, with Colly rolling back the years to take to the field for a spell
ENGLAND'S fielding coach Paul Collingwood was forced to PLAY in the warm-up game against Cricket Australia XI on Thursday, due to a mounting injury crisis.
Jake Ball limped off in the morning session after spraining his right ankle in only his fifth over of the day.
The Nottinghamshire seamer joins Steven Finn - who has now been sent home - and Moeen Ali on the physio's table through injury.
Worryingly for England, Finn's replacement Tom Curran is yet to land Down Under - set to arrive on Friday.
So desperate is the injury crisis for Joe Root's men, they sent 41-year-old fielding coach Collingwood on as a sub fielder... wearing Mason Crane's spare whites.
The Durham all-rounder was one of the greatest fielders of his generation in his pomp, so England could do far worse.
However, resorting to a coach already shows how threadbare the squad is looking, before the first Test ball has even been bowled.
Ball will be assessed overnight - with his place in this winter's Ashes series not yet completely written-off.
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Amazingly, Collingwood may well have warranted a spot on the tour in his own right.
Not only is he a fantastic fielder, he's a handy medium pacer and even boasted a better batting average in County Cricket in 2017 than James Vince - set be England's No3 on this tour.
England's Ashes Test schedule
Nov 23-27 First Test (Brisbane)
Dec 2-6 Second Test (Adelaide)
Dec 14-18 Third Test (Perth)
Dec 26-30 Fourth Test (Melbourne)
Jan 4-8 Fifth Test (Sydney)
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Colly racked up 1,087 runs this summer at an impressive average of 49.41 - the 17th best record in Division Two.
Meanwhile, Vince could only muster 626 runs at 32.95 - albeit in Division One.
In fact, Collingwood replaced Vince on the field on Thursday, as the Hampshire batsman required a brief comfort break.
The recent spate of injuries mean England have only 13 fully-fit players Down Under - with Stuart Broad rested for this week's clash.
Should Ball not recover from his injury, it is likely Tom Helm or Mark Wood would take his spot in the squad.
After the game, Collingwood spoke of the bizarre scenes, saying: “Mason is a bit smaller than me but I managed to squeeze into his whites. You have to do your duty, don’t you?
“There weren’t many people left in the dug-out – Moeen is not fit and Stuart Broad had just bowled a spell in the nets.
“James Vince didn’t have to come off but they thought it would be funny for me to go on. It was only an over but the batsmen kept hitting the ball to me, it was good fun.”
Meanwhile, fans are dying to see Colly given the nod to be called into the England squad... should Ball be forced to withdraw.
