Ballance suffers fracture but still set for World Cup

Ballance, who was recalled to the one-day squad as a replacement for dropped former captain Alastair Cook, was struck on the little finger in his right hand during fielding drills in Canberra last week.

The 25-year-old will remain with the side for the ongoing Tri-Series against Australia and India and no batting cover has been added.

A brief England and Wales Cricket Board statement read: “Gary Ballance has a fractured right little finger, sustained during fielding practice in Canberra. Ballance will be available for the ICC Cricket World Cup and therefore we will not be calling another player into the squad.”

Ballance has yet to play since England arrived Down Under, with coach Peter Moores apparently set on his preferred batting order.

Ballance and opener Alex Hales are the only members of the 15-man party who have not appeared in either warm-up match or Friday’s three-wicket defeat by Australia.

It is not yet known whether Ballance will be available before the end of the current series, with England next in action against India on Tuesday.

England’s reluctance to summon a replacement suggests they are not overly concerned about the injury, but have already indicated that any call-ups to the existing squad would likely come from the Lions party in South Africa.

That squad is being captained by Jonathan Trott, who is also the form batsman having hit a double century against South Africa A in Paarl.

Whether or not he is currently deemed ready for a full international return, having not featured since leaving last winter’s Ashes with a stress-related condition, is unclear.