Tom Hartley breaks hand, ruled out England Lions tour of Australia as the spinner returns back to UK for treatment.
Tom Hartley ruled out of Lions tour of Australia with broken hand.
Lancashire left-arm spinner Tom Hartley has been ruled out of England Lions’ tour of Australia, after suffering a fractured right hand during training in Brisbane on Thursday.
The 25-year-old Hartley participated in all five of England’s Test matches during their January–March tour of India last year, taking 22 wickets at 36.13, including a game-winning 7 for 62 in his debut innings at Hyderabad.
Since then, though, he has not been used; instead, England’s preferred option is offspinner Shoaib Bashir. Although Hartley did not play in the team’s journey to the semi-finals, he was called up to the England T20 World Cup squad in June.
Given that England’s senior squad will be returning to Australia in October for the 2025–26 Ashes, his injury is a setback to his aspirations of building a claim for a Test recall.
For the Lions trip, which will include three red-ball matches, including an unofficial Test match against Australia A in Sydney from January 30 to February 2, he and Bashir were both chosen.
Hartley will now head back to the UK, where the Lancashire medical staff will evaluate him further. No one has been called up to join the team as a replacement.
Lions head coach Andrew Flintoff will be in charge of the tour, which kicks off in earnest on January 14 with a four-day match in Brisbane against a Cricket Australia Select XI.